Townsfolk Tussle Detailed Review!

[@elan-6418]

You are quickly becoming one of my favorite reviewers.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Really happy to hear that elan thank you! :)

[@andreafioretti1134]

Is there a way to support you on not doing videos? I actually could save money on KS if this would happen xD

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hah! I wish! I'd save money too then :D

[@BalkanBiker]

@@TheKingofAverage Don't lie to us, you get games for free ;)

[@michaeljoyce7548]

This was an easy choice for me, even my wife wanted me to back this one. She's somewhat interested in boss battlers, but the scope of KDM intimidates her and she loves the art on this. Winner: Me.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Perfect then!

[@sleepinxonxbed]

Standees are now included with the first stretch goal unlocked (and completely smashed through). The game has already been funded in 46 minutes! I've been playing the free demo on TTS all week and probably will for a lot longer.

[@TheKingofAverage]

that's awesome! The standees are beautiful :)

[@Vascariz]

Rather not have minis and just standees

[@sleepinxonxbed]

@@Vascariz It was hard to gauge people's interests leading up to the game. Lots of people like myself tried to spread word through subreddits and facebook groups but all the threads kept getting removed cause the mods didn't want discussions about Kickstarter games prelaunch. Most of the feedback dealt with gameplay, so only now the day of launch are people finding the game and demanding for things like a standee only edition

[@jamesmurray2690]

Thanks for the great video KOA! I backed this straight away, purely based on the look of the minis that I am dying to paint, but now I am even happier that I have backed, as after watching your vid, I know I am going to love playing the game. Cheers J

[@TheMurphyx]

I was on the fence of not backing the game, since I had some concerns about variety. Thanks to your great video I am sure, that there is enough for me getting that game. I really appreciate your vids.

[@DriedMoss]

Yeah, I love it when I game can layer on the humor thick and thematic. The combinations in this game do really speak to tons of replay value.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah for sure! It's nice that it's light and feels casual to play ( so can get to the table more often IMO) but has so much variety that you always do new stuff each time :)

[@Ricardo-bw7ru]

Thank you KOA! I trust your reviews!! The game looks to be a certain winner. Looks like it takes all the right elements, improves on them AND gives them a perfect twist for added fun. The theme is fantastic, the humor of it is gold-I chuckled when you read the cards :) and artwork on the cards, board, etc- is AMAZING. wow. or maybe it was your camera but it looks superb on this video. I'm especially surprised that you liked the style and look, knowing your taste which is very similar to mine. Anyway, thanks again for a great review. I'm all-in on this, whatever that looks like for this campaign, but it doesn't look like it will be a money grab at all. Love it.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Right there with ya! Yeah I wasn't immediately drawn to the theme for sure, but when actually playing the game I couldn't help but enjoy the fun little world they created here and I think that's in large part to how well they integrate it everywhere :) Helps that the game is fun of course :D

[@Ricardo-bw7ru]

@@TheKingofAverage I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the updates as the campaign progress! 🙏

[@DriedMoss]

The terrain reference cards remind me of Kingdom Death Monster. KDM was the first game I played that provided reference cards for how terrain works. Sine Tempore does this type of terrain reference too.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah it's really nice! Though KDM has you looking up plenty of rules so every little bit helps there. Here since much of the game rules is on the game board too you rarely look anything up :D

[@cmchristensen]

"He will trouble your maker!" I am now concerned.

[@TheKingofAverage]

hahaha :D

[@chrisel4802]

Thanks for a great video and honest thoughts, which I've come to appreciate we get from you time and again. I'd watched Fen and Bra Mithra's playthroughs and love the approach the creators have taken and think this is going go be an awesome game for many. As a predominantly solo player though I'm gutted that for me at least I won't be backing as I think this will only really excel at higher player counts.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah while technically the only mechanic that doesn't work solo is the secret event cards, you lost a lot from just not having people (though I find that to often always be the case, but I don't play solo) :)

[@amoore05]

“We’re almost at the end here, I promise” halfway through an hour+ video, hahaha. I’ve heard you say this in a number of videos, so many broken promises. 😆

[@TheKingofAverage]

I have failed you :D

[@amoore05]

The first time, yes; I know better by now. Keep up the good work, I know you put a lot into it.

[@Tharukan]

Great and thorough review, as always! (not fully through yet, of course, but judging from the start and the rest of your catalog I'm sure it'll be great and thorough :D) I'd recommend using a different camera angle if in any way possible though. The angle from behind your back forcing you to turn halfway round and look above your shoulder to talk to us is a little bit awkward tbh. I think a straight on and slightly raised angle with the table between you and your audience would feel better! Maybe you could even include B-Roll and zoom-ins for relevant components a la Quackalope, though that would be just a plus and would make the whole process a lot more taxing, of course... Keep the good work going!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah I'm saving up for a camera with my patreon money. Currently this one in 4k forces a zoom in and can't go wide angle at all. I spent an hour trying every possible angle I could to see both my face and the board well and this is as good as it gets until then :( As for b-roll and such, unlike Quackalope I can't go full time on YT so even with this as it is I was up until 3:30am editing the video, then had to quickly upload it and make a thumbnail this morning :)

[@Tharukan]

@@TheKingofAverage Well, that explains that then! It's just an irritation, nothing major, and as soon as you know the reason it's not even a factor. Great videos anyways, even without wide angle and B-Roll, especially for a side hustle!

[@Amuny666]

Totally sold on this one over Darkest Dungeon. And seeing comments around youtube/reddit, I feel like it's a fairly common opinion. Weird to think that a new comer might hurt the campaign of a big established company because they released at the same time. But this niche of "boss fight that are not a 60hours+ campaign" seems to be one that was asking to be filled. The theme being so refreshing and the creators being so active in the medias really pushed it up, and I can't see it not being a success. They seems to be very open to criticism and I do have high hopes for this one.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Totally agreed there! It's so great that it's something I can plop down and play almost casually :)

[@CheddahSlammer]

I don't know if their effecting each other, many people like myself have gotten both to the detriment to our wallets lol.

[@wbeytel]

I... Must... Stay... Strong! I will not back this, I won't. I need to save my money for ISS Vanguard. Edit: Great review Michael!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Glad you liked it! You are staying stronger than I have :D

[@wbeytel]

@@TheKingofAverage unfortunately it is by necessity. I just cannot afford backing every Kickstarter that catches my eye. Do you see this as an absolute *must have*?

[@ccggenius]

Nothing on the campaign page appears to have the words "Exclusive" plastered on them (aside from cameos and name drops), so... that's cool. Probably follow the campaign but buy local.

[@LyricalWrench]

Unfortunately, the creators said that the game itself will be kickstarter exclusive. It's in the FAQ :/

[@DriedMoss]

When you start going over the secrets inside the sealed box...I got this sense of you teasing us with “It’s okay...it’s okay, it’s okaaay. We can just take a couple cookies out of the cookie jar. I won’t tell Mom, if you don’t.”

[@TheKingofAverage]

gahaha yeah pretty much :D Just showing a small tease, some of those cards completely change big aspects of the normal game flow!

[@ackvet]

Amazing review! What a rock star You are!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Glad you liked it :)

[@forouza1]

Great video. I was not planning to pledge this KS but after watching your video I pledged and am excited to get this game.

[@TheKingofAverage]

I bet you'll enjoy it :) Have had a blast with it!

[@nothing3376]

Thanks for the review! Is it possible that this will go to retail?

[@TheKingofAverage]

They say no, but I imagine it's certainly doable. The hard part there is profit margin.

[@nothing3376]

@@TheKingofAverage I want this one so bad but I usually don’t bsck games...

[@SherlockChromesSFY]

Townsfolk Tussle PM closes January 1st and then soon after off to print. It doesn’t seem like Panic plans to develop the game more than what they’ve provided you. Would you love this game in the form you played it? Worth backing?

[@TheKingofAverage]

I backed it actually! The game is a lot of fun, unique setting and I'd be happy to have the final version with those cool minis to boot :)

[@Grognard-Solo-Gaming]

I backed it. I wasn’t supposed to (it was supposed to be maybe Primal and maybe Fallen Knight for the rest of 2020, but... oh well 😂) Great video as always! 👍

[@TheKingofAverage]

Glad you liked the video and welcome aboard! :D

[@JohnKessler]

I keep seeing conflicting info on a solo option but don't see any info on it on the kickstarter. Do you know if there is going to be a solo option?

[@TheKingofAverage]

solo works (controlling multiple townsfolk) and it works for everything except the town event secret cards.

[@CheddahSlammer]

I backed this and Darkest Dungeon. I was also looking at Freedom Five A sentinels Comics Board game because I have all of Sentinels in the Big Box. Why did all these game come out on the same day. I even here that many more good games are on their way.

[@ilqrd.6608]

Honestly it’s a problem. The year has so many months...why did these all hit in the same week goddamnit

[@patriziopastore9895]

Cool review man thanks a lot I’m in!!!

[@TheKingofAverage]

You are very welcome :)

[@shachna]

This is so weird. They seem to have included a bunch of the stretch goals in your review copy that was sent out before launch.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yep! I actually like that as it means these will be well rested instead of thrown in afterward which is nice.

[@musiczombie3392]

You mentioned fun for the kids, can I ask for ages? I see the box says 14+. Wondering how ‘mature’ it actually is vs what maybe had to be listed?

[@TheKingofAverage]

The 14+ is common to see as it makes delivering the game, especially to Europe easiest since if it's for younger kids then extra stuff has to be done as it's for children. For instance the latest TMNT game was rejected in Europe and they had to repackage it since is had the TMNT branding and Nickelodeon logo so young kids might have wanted it. Anyway, I played with a 14 and 11yo. Game isn't complex to understand and it's co-op so you can get away with quite a bit. There are some more mature themes, but it's all done in a very cartoony way. The extremes that I saw where the dog with guns on his sides that has cartoonish blood under him and you can take pieces of him as boss gear like his eyes and tail (my kids thought this was hilarious) and Wheel Barrow's final fight where you get a knife and bucket and have to make ritual/exorcism signs in blood on the ground. None of it is graphic or serious but there is that sort of stuff there.

[@musiczombie3392]

@@TheKingofAverage thank you so much! Love the video and the detail as well. Keep up the great work. It’s helping me break into this hobby in an expensive but productive way!

[@DriedMoss]

It would have been nice to have some close ups of the items you’re pointing at. The camera always being locked over your right shoulder keeps us at a distance from your specific points being made on the components.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah I need a real camera that can autofocus better in 4k and also have a wider angle. Then I could pull it closer and show the camera what I'm looking at :)

[@chuck-n-debtaylor7553]

Wow! What a review! Good job :-)

[@TheKingofAverage]

Really glad you liked it! :D

[@Indra_P]

Is it just me but the review copy already have the stretch goals townsfolk and ruffians?

[@TheKingofAverage]

It does include a bit extra from the core box yes :)

[@elan-6418]

I see that you still believe in stretch goals :)

[@uchti]

Hm, I must say it is a bit weird to me that you do have all the new items + Ruffian that we have just unlocked as a stretch goal already in your preview copy.... kinda defeats the purpose if the developer just takes stuff out that is already done and puts it as stretch goals )=

[@TheKingofAverage]

Welcome to Kickstarter :D - it's like that 99% of the time. On the positive side, it means for a better game normally. For instance the SG's from many games are terribly balanced because they're just added on late in the design phase and there's too many of them. Nice, controlled stretch goals like that make for a much better gaming experience with them normally :)

[@CheddahSlammer]

Here's the thing though, mostly all companies do this. A main tell that their doing this, is when they have tons of stretch goals but still have enough room in their base game box.

[@uchti]

@@TheKingofAverage Hm, I definitely get your point but I think I´d want companies to do both. Have some Goals prepared like they obviously had with Townsfolk Tussle to make people happy for achieving things, but also have 2-3 real stretch goals that backers can work towards that may even be influenced somehow by the backers. Especially in this case because the entire game will be kickstarter exclusive if I am not mistaken. (I am backing the game anyways because it looks pretty good!) Thanks for the review!

[@johninnaperville]

Just because they have the idea fleshed out in the prototype doesn't mean that they can afford to produce it at a lower volume. Consider that every piece and associated cards, minis, etc. costs money to produce. The economics change with volume, so in that way stretch goals are legitimate. The developer sets the initial funding at the level they can produce complete but stripped down game and as the funding increases, adds components that enhance it and they know will work because they have already play tested it.

[@crimsonsun2000]

LOL I was already sold, especially at the low low cost for games like we play, but I must admit I love your assessment of the theme, I like wizards, magic, daemons and grimdark but I'm drawn to this for how silly it looks but in a good way... Anyway at $85 it has to be worth a squirt.

[@TheKingofAverage]

haha worth a squirt huh? :D

[@crimsonsun2000]

@@TheKingofAverage Its such a gross saying I find it funny as hell.. Might be a weird british humor thing though... Will you be watching the Descent 3e live stream at 10am cst today?

[@Virondata]

Thank you for yet another great video. I havent tried this yet, but the fact that you agree with most of my point in your review, i am supporting this game, even though all speciel pledges are you so soon :o :D

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah that really helps when there's alignment so that's good :D Thanks for watching Virondata and glad you liked it!

[@haldanerobbs4837]

This was quite the thorough review. Really good IMO. I've been checking out their mini renders and to my (less discerning) eye most of them look like they should translate to plastic reasonably well. I'm mostly looking at Umbrello and Penny Pinchetti as tricky; what do you think @The King of Average?

[@TheKingofAverage]

Actually neither of those concern me. The two different ones that they'd need to be careful about (and probably use ABS for the part in question) is the strawman who has a lot of weight above the post, Virginia Fritz's knife point on her finger and Dozy's handcuffs. Making those ABS or a good PVC/ABS mix should resolve any issue. One important thing to note is how large the ruffians are. Not huge, but not small either on that 2 inch base :)

[@haldanerobbs4837]

@@TheKingofAverage I completely forgot about the scarecrow guy. My concern over Umbrello was similar to him, but Umbrello has a potentially tricky thin-ish coil, as opposed to the weight of the scarecrow sculpt. To be honest, Penny is more of a painting concern, because the way I see it is either there's going to be a void we can't contort our brushes into, or the gap behind her door/face will be filled. As you say these are going to be scaled to a 4 in sq base so I'm hopeful the finer details will be ok. Virginia Fritz's knife not so much, but as soon as Panic Roll send the model files to the factory V F's knife is going to be flagged up...If only they had large scale 3D printers [insert wistful sigh here]

[@konstantin5526]

Would not back it, knowing it costs me 15$ extra just for checking campaign 1 hour later than someone else. Also, it looks like only Quackalope community appreciated there.

[@TheKingofAverage]

The firs tis stupid and the second is odd. I went and checked and saw that he doesn't use tracked links so how do they know what kind of traction he got? My link has been used1,325 times and I can prove it thanks to a tracked link. I also waited to launch this video until the day they launched as requested, probably hurting it's views as others did it before but ah well. Still a good game but definitely some missteps here.

[@robinrising9929]

@@TheKingofAverage quack generally asks the publishers directly for these kinds of adds and offers them free side work to be part of the dev process.. They do name drop you and tell people to come over and see your stuff all the time over on their sister channel Boardgameco, they're good people.

[@weichull]

​@@TheKingofAverage Hey there! (From Panic Roll) sorry about the confusion there, we had told all of our reviewers between 10/16-10/20 if possible, looks like there was miscommunication of 'day of' vs. 'during this time frame' :(. We totally appreciate you as a reviewer and your community, and this amazing video dissection is proof of your talent as a creator. As for Quackalope, it wasn't at all about performance or whatever, he spent hours with us on the phone (literal hours) helping us and giving us advice. Again we're first time creators and any help sent our way was very appreciated, we just wanted to show our thanks to him in any way we could. That being said, King of Average's early coverage of us with his unboxing launched us into visibility, and we can't thank you enough for that. We're so glad you enjoyed the game!

[@garylangford6755]

I think it's important to tell viewers early on what the backstory of the game is, who we are and how we win and when the games ends. I wasn't sure until much later in the review

[@TheKingofAverage]

Ah good point, missed that in the overview and jumped straight to mechanics :D

[@DriedMoss]

Interesting camera angle. A couple of times, looking over your right shoulder, we see only half to zero of your face as you talk to us. At times it feels ike you’re explaining a game to us as a casual passersby at the local game store. It felt nostalgic in a way. Maybe swap left and right over the shoulder camera angles between episodes so your neck doesn’t get tired or cramped. ; )

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah it's a sucky situation TBH. I tried, and I kid you not, filming this in 9 different camera angles. The problem is my camera/lens. My camera to record in 4k narrows the view and zooms in so I can't zoom out any more and not having any wide angle prevents a lot of stuff from getting into view. To get both the board, and me in the camera and still have it close enough to see the came is VERY difficult. This is why normally you just see my hands and the game as I just give up altogether trying to get me in there. With this review since there weren't a lot of examples on the game board and instead just cards I felt that might be a bit too boring to look at so I tried (as best I can) to include me in there as well.

[@whytemeet]

Love the shirt, Robocop is the next board game we need.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Heck yeah that'd be awesome!

[@DriedMoss]

Here come the questions: 1. Do you play test these games for these companies? 2. Do they give you a credit in their rulebooks for your efforts? 3. How much time do you put into the prep of these reviews? 4. How many times do you play the game, and do you play it solo, and is it a full game? 5. How much back and forth do you have with the designers? Do they clarify rules for you?

[@TheKingofAverage]

These are fantastic questions! 1 - Once with Oathsworn, and I was sure to be transparent about that in my review of it :) 2 - Not that I know of 3 - I always try to do multiple play sessions (as many as can be managed) ideally with a variety of player counts. A single play session won't show redundancy, longevity or robustness in player count. I compile all of my thoughts in notes and then organize them into key points, and then organize those points in an order I feel flows well. I then have to set up the game and ensure I have what I need for my review (so for instance here I had to ensure I had the Hero set already out as I wanted to use it as an example). Then come editing where I have to put it all together, adjust sound, add my overlays and such. I put a ton of time into these reviews, hours and hours and hours. This one I completed at 3:30 in the morning and started filming at 10 and that just includes filming and editing, the rest add the play sessions just add more time to that. I can see why many reviewers just play a game once and do a quick "thoughts" on it. To be this thorough it takes considerable more time. 4 - Ah sorta answered this in 3. Really though there's no set amount, just however much it takes for me to feel comfortable in understanding the points so many fail to talk about such as longevity. Seriously go watch a Dice Tower review or something like that and hold your breath until they talk about how long a game will last you. You'll die. Most reviewers review so many these are one and done deals and price and/ore how long a game will last before getting boring never cross their mind. 5 - This varies as well. For instance with Townsfolk Tussle I had no questions. I had lots of questions for Limbo: Eternal War though and asked many questions there and got answers which helped ensure I played correctly. Same with Dawn of Madness and others. Feel free to ask anything else of course! :)

[@michaelb8111]

After all this time, I have never seen you this excited!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hah! I can get pretty excited :D But yeah this is a fun one :)

[@kwulfe]

I am definitely on board here. I love boss battle games

[@TheKingofAverage]

It's a fun one :)

[@82ndmi]

Too bad they went with a limited time early bird, I was in when it launched due to them playing with us a lot over at the quackalope community, still didn’t get it. Personally not interested any more it’s not soloable due to the semi coop and hidden event cards, but I would have grabbed it for the minis and how cute it was.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah that's a huge bummer :(

[@CheddahSlammer]

They did give all first time backer's a bunch of cards as an apology. Apparently they didn't realize how hot their game would be, they even ran out of stretch goals already.

[@LyricalWrench]

@@CheddahSlammer Like they ran out of ideas for stretch goals?

[@stephendavis7327]

What changed your mind about single die combat between Sheol and this game?

[@TheKingofAverage]

Good question! It's never something I'm excited for per se (as it's not much of a system inherently) but I usually don't put a negative for it either. For SHEOL it's just a more nuance reason and I regret calling out the die roll specifically as it's not the root of the problem, just a potential way to improve it. It's not so much that it's a single die roll but that there's not really much strategy involved. That's partially do to the programmed movement of the enemies and partially just how things end up working out. In SHEOL, at least with my playthrough, it seemed to not have much strategy. You see the blips, you attack them as you can with your weapon and that's mostly it. Comparatively for something like Townsfolk Tussle it's lifted up by the enemy AI system that you are reacting too, terrain to deal with, alternative objectives and special combat mechanics (like the knife and bucket situation) that really help this work. If Townsfolk Tussle was more simplistic in it's combat (outside of dice rolling) where I spawned enemies that moved down lanes and I just had to roll a die once to keep them at bay then I'd have had an issue with it. TT being a boss battler with advanced AI and scenario situations really help it here so it's not relying on that die roll to add "oomph" to the feel of combat. The same could be said with Arena. At the end of the day that's what I want, is a good feeling from combat. Whether the the game devs can do that with a single die roll or not is actually not concerning to me. Hope that helps explain it!

[@stephendavis7327]

@@TheKingofAverage That does not really help explain it. One may just as easily say the same thing with the game names swapped. But I totally understand about wanting to get a good feeling from combat. I guess a single die combat system is just a skill check.

[@DriedMoss]

Root, I feel, does basic combat rolls very well. One roll, of 2 identical die, decides the fate of attacker and defender, with the asymmetric styles of each player augmenting how combat affects them, but the dice rolls are always understood. I really like the simple combat in a game like Talisman (I have everything for that game, also the Batman and Kingdom Hearts versions). I know, Talisman is super simple, but sometimes simplistic combat is what works for the game theme and helps move the game phases more smoothly without players sitting idle for 5 minutes when combat occurs between other opposing/cooperative players.

[@TheKingofAverage]

I have the KH version of Talisman but have yet to play it :D That rolling in Root sounds similar to what Massive Darkness 2 does which is cool :)

[@echelon435]

Surprised you didn't warn them away from a limited EB

[@TheKingofAverage]

I didn't know :(

[@DigitalMagicianYT]

Can this be played solo?

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah sure can! The only odd part comes around those secret town even cards. If you're fine knowing those then you're good to go.

[@dreadknot69]

I went to the KS page to check out the pricing and saw that the Early Birds are gone. Ah well....wish they didn't use those as I might've pledged.

[@Heidelmann]

They are so annoying. Only 101 early bird copies. Only thing more dumb. Perhaps the black friday bundle we'll see next month.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah that's seriously a misstep on their part.

[@Heidelmann]

Although the personalized novelty and support us more pledge options are an interesting idea. I don't see that type of pledge all that often.

[@DriedMoss]

Can I simply say that any game that is defined as “Rouge-like” is just random outcomes or is it random set up? I thought Rouge-like was more procedurally generated gameplay layouts. This is scenario based? So all the map layouts are identical. Enemies encounters are random? Alright...I am off to the Kickstarter page.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Sort of yeah. It's certainly more removed from Rogue in that regard, though the random order that you get them in, and the order makes each boss a little different still accomplishes this I feel. I don't want to do the math but you have at least 12 bosses, all with 4 versions of themselves in a random order of 4 in a row. Also note that there are at least 12 maps then, with a few more as sometimes the final fight changes the layout a bit.

[@jeffrey107]

conflicted about this game, every turn its either activating a terrain or hitting the boss, on the other hand its simplicity allows for a silly fun enjoyable evening

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah certainly don't go into it expecting KDM, but honestly that was part of the joy of it. Also it kind of depends on your character. Some are straight sage dealers like that but others offer more variety such as yancy needing to taunt and use gear to negate damage, or the bloody twins swapping around gear to either heal, buff or damage the boss and then of course there's the final fight itself with unique mechanics each time. The bundits with their damage + debuff as the troublemaker has you keeping your distancing and killing it with range I'd you can. We used Norman Fishboy's pull and yancy's taunt a lot on that one

[@lapisverderossi8618]

Looks like a poor man's Kingdom Death:Monster

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah it's part of the same genre, but obviously at a completely different level, different focus, gameplay and setting :D

[@ryanbrown9102]

Thank you for the video! I must admit though: You seems to claim of speaking always with honesty and decency, and even said many times that we can never tell what a reviewer really think and how trustful his opinion really is, specially after he received a copy of the reviewed game from the publisher, And although you use a lot in BGG - YET - It seems that you are keep avoiding from update your table collection, rate all the games you are experience at, and fearlessly share your honest opinion with your fans which I consider myself as one of them (even after you ignored me when I wrote to you that there are playthrough for Massive Darkness 2 after you said that there isn't any video that show how the game is, and this why you are not able to share your opinion about its gameplay)...

[@TheKingofAverage]

Heya Joe! For a long while I didn't accept early review copies for exactly that reason. I'd categorize it as a "business favor" as getting early coverage technically does indeed help the channel a bit. The reason I opted to start doing so some time ago is because of the HUGE benefit it provides you guys as I can actually play and tell you what I feel about a game WHILE they are asking for your money, not afterward. That's hugely helpful and something I didn't want to pass up. Of course there's more than that. I helped playtest Oathsworn (said so in my review), even hosted a giveaway of the game. What I've done in more recent reviews is actually put up a Full Disclaimer were I talk about communication/action between the company and myself. Ultimately that's the best I can do: be fully transparent and let you guys judge for yourself the honest. Ideally seeing my say, review Dawn of Madness early prototype and saying I didn't like it and that it had a lot of issues, hopefully that level of honesty even if I get a prototype and the inclusion of negatives in all of my reviews shows that I'm not swayed by any sort of early copy of a game. What am I avoiding? I actively show what I even back on KS at this point :) I'm an open book :D And sorry I missed your message! I didn't mean to ignore you at all! First comments are easy to track but sadly replies are much harder to track at scale. Not sure what you mean though, perhaps you are mistaking me for someone else? I watched Quakalopes playthrough of Massive Darkness 2 right away so I knew there was a playthrough :) I did say that there wasn't any real info about the campaign at the start of the campaign though.

[@Chodor101]

Darkest Dungeon is up!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Backed!

[@JodouTR]

That's another easy pass for me because the game does look too fiddly considering how the PC game was. I'd much rather have the complete experience from the videogame than having no narrator as well; the board game feels like a massive downgrade IMO.

[@rudigerkipferl4479]

Great video but wow, definitely not a game for me with all that boss fighting and that cartoony artwork... Kind of relaxing that there are so many Kickstarters now that I don't want to back, but so many I did back will be released soon and are already paid for 😁👍

[@TheKingofAverage]

hehe lucky you! :D

[@dorklord1303]

Jezzz !! Hail to the king of average.. Another one i have to get ..it look pretty awesome..already back twisted fables..now this one haaaa . houffff .houff . But where already saving $$$ because convid .. soo why not investe more in family time !!! ..i guess

[@JodouTR]

Early bird was strike one for me, don't appreciate them launching without considering people in other time zones. Strike two was mandatory minis purchase, as the standees are far more in theme and don't stand out like a sore thumb. Minis were just plain a mistake here. Strike three was the pricing: since this is a boss battler I was looking for *maybe* $60 shipped for just the base of a non-soloable game. Over $100 shipped for this when Darkest dungeon is almost the same price? No way. Way overpriced.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah definitely some missteps here for sure :( Overall the product itself is great fun though :) DD looks great too!

[@CheddahSlammer]

The problem is shipping companies are raising their prices. I already paid shipping for several kick starters. The companies came back and told us that shipping prices increased, some wanted to us to pay the amount, and others said they covered it. These game's shipping were 40$-60$ and went up to 60$-80$. Seeing these new games shipping are just estimates for when their games will be released. $100-200 dollars might be the new norm for shipping.

[@tiagoaguiar1628]

Seems a lot of fun, minis look awesome and funny, to bad for the non solo game, because it might ruin the game, also too bad my wallet is ruined after Darkest Dungeon, but I love the darkest dungeon set and art,so choices must be made

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah I hear ya! Solo works here for everything but secret town events.

[@tiagoaguiar1628]

@@TheKingofAverage I really want to not regret my choice. So far Dark D is getting a perfect score for me in content vs price, hope the minis are any good. The minis from this one seem way funnier..

[@chadrobert116]

Everything except the fighting seems great; a single die roll. 6 Townsfolks in the game and 3 of them have a negative accuracy modifier. Gear seems (for the most part) to be 4+. Missing more than half the time isn't my idea of fun.

[@TheKingofAverage]

It's quite easy to improve your accuracy to the point where it was never an issue with us so I didn't even think of mentioning it. Most bought gear tends to buff your stats :)

[@herr_der_spiele]

Exploding Kittens Meets KDM - definitly no game for me - thx for the Video anyway👍

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hehe yeah I can understand that! :)

[@justinr1094]

I love almost everything about this game, but will never pick it up due to the woke and satanic elements in it. It's a huge bummer, because everything else about this game is a slam dunk for me, but no board game is worth tolerating that.

[@Vascariz]

Limited early bird? I'm out.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Yeah that was a seriously bad misstep on their part. This is why I wish companies would talk to me before doing stuff like that lol :D

[@Nezbo]

Same. That decided my uncertainly instantly when I saw it.

[@DireMcCann]

Been looking forward to this since I first saw it on your channel! Thanks for organizing your thoughts and doing a review!

[@TheKingofAverage]

You are very welcome!