Titan Review - with Tom Vasel

[@AvlShirkus]

Well, no one can argue that Tom lacks passion for the hobby. Man he's fired up! I thoroughly enjoyed this review.

[@sviney]

This is the type of review that keeps me coming back to the channel. Always appreciate the honesty, and integrity of your work. Keep it up!

[@NATOnova]

need more reviewers with intellectual honesty and unafraid to give a bad review as these. Too many refuse to or dance around giving a negative review instead of speaking plainly

[@ziomalZparafii]

Yeah, that's why I stopped watching Rahdo. He was overhyped over every game he touched. It's like giving 10/10 to each title. Your review stops matter at that point.

[@eVanDiesel]

These comments always confuse me. Are his positive reviews without integrity?

[@sviney]

@@eVanDiesel Tom's honesty and integrity is reinforced in my mind when he publishes the combination of negative and positive reviews. The contrast provides evidence he's doing due diligence, there by providing a valuable service to this community. KZbin is flush with sponsored or bias compromised videos. What good are the channels that rate all games/products a 10/10? What good as a consumer does it do me for every review to be glowing? I hope more of the community would provide similar feedback so the channels providing this great content are reinforced in their good work.

[@thecuriousboardgamer]

@@ziomalZparafii Radho doesn't do reviews. He does playthroughs. If you were watching him for opinions, you misunderstood the point of his videos.

[@nftdecree503]

Tom, please note there is a difference between 'laying pipe' and 'laying A pipe'.

[@timtimmy1466]

Haha. I was laughing during the video thinking about this

[@donaldhouf8377]

I came for this comment…

[@nftdecree503]

@@donaldhouf8377 Are we not doing phrasing any more?!

[@alwilkinson]

I think it’s part of Tom’s appeal that this didn’t occur to him.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Fascinating. Mass noun for pipe. I eat fish vs. I eat a fish vs I eat fishes.

[@violentfrog_]

Now THAT's a tombstone quote: "NO! NO! I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!" love it

[@Johnsemgawl]

Every hobby deserves a Tom Vasel. I salute you sir!

[@jameswoodard4304]

Alternative title for this video: "Tom Vasel's Attack on Titan"

[@stefansibbes2440]

Tom you said the game itself was fine, but what about the components?

[@rb4551]

thats really unfortunate. I remember in the mail opening video how excited you were to try this one and yah, it looked like it could be pretty cool.

[@seansteel328]

Yep, played it once, straight on ebay. Was massively disappointed I played it at 3 player and, exactly as you said, the middle player won by a huge distance and didn't really understand the game. The thing that sold me on it was the prototype images and I swear this game would've been better if it had been picked up by someone like Kosmos or Z-Man, they'd have just made it simple and clean and sent it straight to retail

[@vincerodriguez4070]

Excellent take. To play this game as intended the only acceptable player count is 4.

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

Seems like there would have been better scaling solutions than blocking off whole sections at 2 and 3 players. Blocking various spaces (scattered throughout the board) or preprinting pipes everyone can use through the blocked off sections would both avoid the "edge" problem.

[@MattWGAllan]

A+ for putting the final thoughts timestamp before the component overview, either that or put another timestamp in just for it.

[@eVanDiesel]

Ok. That box falling apart all over the table was hilarious.

[@jazzeejax5816]

You're a good man Vasel

[@koalabrownie]

I suspect the problem with this and some other games is that they don't test the game using the final product- or if they do, they're already too committed to that end product to change course. I think over-produced is fine but not when it negatively impacts play ability.

[@johnmiller2689]

Thanks for the review. One to avoid, definately.

[@SteveRB511]

I'm wondering if it could be salvaged: the non-stackable "stackable" components drawn from bags, throw away the large yellow plastic part of the game board and just use its cardboard inserts (various options to hold them in place), etc. I'm passing on this for now, but if Tom's frustrations are shared by too many others, I may eventually be able to get this at an inexpensive price and modify it to my liking (and even reduce the box size). 😉

[@lioneart19]

To be fair I'm impressed with the board. Love the idea. Should be bendable, though. Also, must be really expensive too.

[@johnnovotny5074]

On a side note, do you think in an age increasing inflation will there be a trend toward leaner, scaled back games and components?

[@vladkalinovych934]

Top 10 idea: good games with bad components / production

[@nshaw1299]

Doesn't have to be good games for it to be interesting... ok games with horrible components are funny to hear about as well, example here :-) but 'think str8' would be in top 5 of the good games list probably... And, 'magical athlete' for Tom I would guess. To me 'Cosmic Colonies' also took a beating by its components. Just too dark board that's hard to tell apart between the different colors to cover, and the tiles are so busy that it just looks like a mess and hard to glance quickly to see what was covered, which tiles were used how many times... And I loved the gameplay and its quickness.

[@olivigarden]

Fwiw, they sort of did a list like that already with their "Top 10 Beautiful on the Inside Games". That was more focused around art and graphic design, but still a similar idea.

[@thelupishow]

So, if I read you correctly, you were less than impressed with the components?

[@thomasromanelli2561]

Wow, it's been awhile since Tom got so demonstrative about a game that disappointed him... and I loved every minute of it! 😏

[@winstonhammonds3314]

I love the emotion!

[@FinubJames]

Could you please do a review of Oathsworn?

[@thedicetower]

OH, I will!

[@Tr1n1tyNZ]

I thought the same thing before you even said it Tom. 😂

[@chrisesposito5530]

Hey Tom, what score would you give the game if it was rereleased with proper cardboard components that worked well?

[@Haytidaho]

15:40 and there you put Jack Nicholson's diatribe in "a few good men". "You want the thruth about this game ?" "We are entitled to it" Etc.

[@Rhino1186]

That game board looks like another game I played as a kid. Mickey Mouse Poppin' Magic.

[@InteractionImplants]

What in the world was the publisher thinking with this production?

[@LegoAssassin098]

Overproduction but functional is so important. First recent game I think of is Foundations of Rome. Totally Overproduced. Could have easily been tiles. But Arcane Wonders put in a lot of effort to streamline the functionality. Easy symbology, having the benefits of each building printed underneath the building on the player board, having the board be easily read during scoring because of the nice plastic pegs, the board isn't too busy even with dozens of buildings, everything fits in the box fairly well. Are there a couple of minor issues I would have liked to see changed? Yes. The score track doesn't stack well (which I think they're fixing with the new expansion). I would have preferred the lot markers be at the bottom of the player board instead of the top. But those don't really detract from the functionality in any significant way. And those issues aren't due to overproduction, a less Overproduced game could make those same decisions. It's really when the overproduction hinders the ability of the payers to actually play the game which is the issue.

[@chuckm1961]

... I am 'hindered' by my refusal to spend three times more for a game than necessary. I will buy Foundations of Rome when it comes in a Ticket to Ride sized box, with cardboard tiles, and retails for about $40 to $50.

[@chrisbaker2004]

You comments on Foundations of Rome are spot on! Exactly the 2 complaints my game group had, lol. I had to 3D print new scoring markers that stack to fix it. I unfortunately backed Titan and have already put it all together, but after Toms review Im not as excited about playing it 😞

[@LegoAssassin098]

@@chuckm1961 Totally understandable and fair criticism.

[@john-qz3fu]

I feel like a genius.... Somehow, while I was going through this kickstarter, I was able to predict with ease this exact outcome. It was an easy and blatant one to skip. Especially for more than $90 Thanks for the review Tom.

[@hudsonbond9797]

Brilliant!

[@browercm]

What you are looking for is at @ 15:12.

[@NATOnova]

interesting review. looks like a unique game that I'd want to try if another friend set it up but certainly deterred to buy it

[@davidreed2626]

lol reminds me of Mouse Trap when I was a kid. I have never actually played the game ever...but I attempted to set it up about 100x and every time just ended up playing with the parts instead of actually playing the game

[@wishmeheaven]

Honesty... It is always a bless.

[@12345678abracadabra]

agreed. im sick of mediocre games trying to force themselves into the market with production gimmicks. oversized components (foundations of rome), centrepieces that do nothing (everdell), figurines and dozens of mini KS expansions. i guarantee that these games, if they came out without production gimmicks, will not even be talked about. these games cannot stand on their own and only found success from the buzz or excess factor. i miss when good games with good mechanics had to stand on their own merits.

[@Sjinobi]

While I agree on your point in general, I really want to say that Everdell is an excellent game. We leave the ridiculous tree out everytime though.

[@Gakraemer86]

I also agree with your point. But will tell you straight off that Foundations of Rome is a great game. My whole family loves it.

[@Lordjunon]

The game looks like its produced in the late 80s/early 90s. The main board looks like a cheese wheel.

[@jawsvvvvv]

Wow...saw this project on kickstarter and the board looked too large at the time but, watching you disassemble it gave me flashbacks to IKEA.

[@PinothyJ]

*look over at his unplayed copy of Titan* Mistakes were made :(

[@robertnagai5149]

Well, he still liked it better than Redneckopoly. 🤣

[@hermesnoel]

The box looks nice…………

[@jackjohnson9988]

The components were a pain…but the overall gameplay wasn’t bad

[@MrDaveydtd]

is the juice worth the squeeze tho?

[@theearlyresetband]

I had to file mine too 😔

[@AdamJorgensen]

Wow, that board looks even more annoying than the one in Viscounts. Dear game devs thinking of using circular boards, etc. Please don't

[@elqord.1118]

By far the ugliest board game I’ve seen in a long time. I would love to see the reactions of the creators watching this review

[@Syncopator]

Obviously inspired by Stadium Checkers.

[@69robtaylor]

Looks like I dodged a bullet here then.

[@MisterDoodlezz]

Oof, same for me! 😬 By a hair's breadth, this would have been my first board game backed on Kickstarter, looked quite nice/interesting back then - how disappointed I would have been, probably never would’ve supported any other campaign out of disappointment if I would’ve gotten this ugly monstrosity.

[@falconwind00]

This is what happens when you overproduce but cheap out at the same time.

[@lilyblanco9525]

It's too bad that the game isn't any good, but it's also good because then Tom has this entertaining review to watch 😅

[@jahniedez6834]

Wow, dont think Ive ever seen Tom this enraged before! Great review!

[@gidiyaniv82]

Check out the monopoly builder review

[@jahniedez6834]

@@gidiyaniv82 Just saw it... comedic gold!

[@srdaniel2]

That's it, just a fleeting mention of the original Titan? We used to play the Avalon Hill version for days, in-between turns there was enough time to play other games, watch a movie, take a bath.

[@DMoore_4]

Video idea: Top 10 games that have the worst components?

[@OfficerREYES1]

You CAN LAY PIPE!!!! ❤

[@maxv658]

Yeah, hard pass for me. It's a lot to look at, and the gameplay does look interesting enough, but that board. My word. I get why it's a 3D board, but they could have just made it one-dimensional cardboard and it would have worked perfectly fine. This game looks very much like the production couldn't live up to the ambition and passion behind the project, which is a shame. I never understood the "who cares about x? Gameplay is all that matters," take. And this goes for everything(video games, movies, etc.) not just board games. It's the same as the people who say, "who cares about graphics in a video game? The gameplay is all that matters." If someone can completely ignore a major facet of a product and still enjoy it, more power to ya. Honestly. But when I buy a board game, a LARGE(arguably the entire) part of the price is components and if those suck, that's a big problem. The same goes for video games. If I'm spending 60-70 dollars on a PS5 game, it should look like a PS5 game, not a PS2 game. Why would/should I pay PS5 prices for a PS2 game? As a consumer, I should feel like the price I am paying for a product is justified by ALL facets of a product. Not just one or two of them.

[@MasterRaccoon9000]

Looks like I dodged a bullet on this one.

[@bryanwinston8820]

Agreed Tom, the components for this game are just awful. This is the first case I've seen where a game is both over produced and poorly produced. And the game is pretty much OK, so yeah I'd accept fine as a description. But if you fix the board, glue the cube holders, change the cubes so they are color appropriate and house rule the wrapping around then it upgrades to an almost good game lol.

[@Lilipulse]

With all thèse modifications , it s totally another game😅

[@Trae_Lenox]

Components might be annoying, but I wouldn’t call them horrible

[@KabukiKid]

Oh man... how confusing that it is using the Titan name. If you are going to name your game the same thing as an established (and I feel fairly famous) game, at least give it a subtitle or something to differentiate it!

[@erichorner8336]

Wow. “Trash!” But how do you feel?

[@tomasxfranco]

It seems overengineered in the wrong direction.

[@johna6108]

The poor production is surprising from an experienced KS creator.

[@graphycus]

This kind of unnecessary waste should be banned by the authorities. We are already suffocating in the enormous amount of plastic waste and there are still companies that doesn't care at all. This game really doesn't need that gigantic plastic "board". It could have been made by simple cardboards and it wouldn't change the gameplay at all. Not to mention the higher production price and the bigger and heavier box, which is also a big negative. Shame on them.

[@dalerancourt5693]

Luv Tom trashing this game. Lol. Tell it like it is.

[@ubiquidade]

You know the productions are getting out of hand when they need to start hiring engineers to design the board.

[@Angeluspit]

This France publisher is so incompetent. Their another reprint KS project is also 2 years late.

[@alexgutierrez3500]

For a box and new rulebooks!!

[@peterjs007]

That board seems really unnecessary 🤷‍♂️

[@FalkFlak]

man it's been a long time since I saw a game that ugly. Looks like straight from the 80s.

[@peterkarlsson1825]

Waste of plastic.

[@Pavos]

Dear lord, that board's ugly