Trudvang Review: And Now We’re Sleeving the Board

Tom Vasel takes a look at Trudvang!
Intro 0:00
Overview 1:13
Review 10:28
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BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...

[@keithreinhardt2791]

I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with Trudvang, we’ve played 4 games at 4 players now and I look forward to each session. It’s not a game I go to for the combat mechanics I look forward to the exploration and story progression. I also feel that the combat is very easy, we’ve breezed through most games at this point. Glad I kickstarted this and look forward to getting the expansions next year hopefully.

[@onishi2460]

Can we get the score to pop up on the screen once you say it?

[@ronrideout3969]

That Mummy necktie is AWESOME!

[@Olvenskol]

I think the main problem in the end is there is just too much combat. The mechanics are fine, but the repetition is just too much for the fairly shallow decision space.

[@spike2439]

I had high hopes for this when I backed it. Then Eric Lang left, and new guys came in and the whole thing got revamped and it just didn't look fun at any point. But the minis were super cool. I'm glad I got most of my money back via a refund.

[@bricelory9534]

I enjoyed my playthrough of the first chapter...the bag pulling mechanism is a nice twist on story-based gameplay.

[@1AngelAlita]

Me too. I understand the game's not for everyone but so far I really enjoy it.

[@roberthermosillo5727]

Couldn't agree more. I was surprised at how underwhelming the combat was, (with no deviation from that as the story progressed). The other components were so cool, that I've been scratching my brain as to how to "house rule" this into an exciting game.

[@michaelmueller260]

If you come up with something, let me know...because this is almost unplayably bad.

[@UnfoldedOrigami]

Indeed. And even worse is it was plenty clear this would be the case already during development when the team was sharing the progress on KS updates. I tried to keep pushing in the comments section for the new deck of cards - they announced were adding in the re-development with the newly hired designers - to be a tableau building mechanic to mitigate rune drawing via rune manipulation, alas all those went unheeded. As such I am working on trying to develop such a system myself.

[@TheMrE]

Hi Tom. This video seems to have some artifacts that show up during motion, probably an encoding error, or since I haven’t seen these before in your channel, maybe your camera is faulty.

[@jessemccaughey4231]

Oh thank you it wasn’t just me.

[@KMReviews]

Oath needs sleeves on the board like this.

[@retroarcadefan]

Thanks for the review Tom! It does seem to underwhelm in a crowded board games segment.

[@TerrierHalo]

This was a Swedish RPG from start but Riotminds sold the IP to Cmon a couple of years ago or so.

[@refreshdaemon]

FedEx lost my package for Trudvang Legends and CMON has not responded to my emails for over six weeks now, but it does seem that "meh" is the overwhelming consensus to the game, which is helping to soften the massive disappointment in not getting my long awaited game. I still want to play this for the story, but I'm kind of wondering if I just sell the Kickstarter extras when I get them instead in hopes of at least somewhat recouping my loss for the missing game.

[@warpaint9385]

Totally agree with this critique. I’ve only played 3 sessions so far completed 2 Chapters and 1 side mission. Haven’t had a chance to get it out again but I’ll keep going for now even though I know it’s getting very repetitive. I think people were expecting this to be amazing given how long it took to re-work but it just isn’t. It’s an ok game, nothing amazing about it.

[@blakecurry3880]

I had much higher hopes for this game. I know there will be more going on in wave 2, but it was just okay.

[@Majdi.J]

Tom gave the game a 6 yet there was a seal of approval at the end.

[@xCriticalStrikex]

Came to say the same thing

[@flawed1]

If it’s not a mistake, it means that someone else at the dice Tower rated it higher. I don’t know why they weren’t in the review.

[@LC-ri5xv]

Really getting wrapped up in the number, huh?

[@xCriticalStrikex]

@@LC-ri5xv We are just highlighting a potential mistake. Going by the information given here a 6 does not qualify for the seal going by their system. If someone else gave it a seal that information should be in the video to justify it. Too difficult concept for you, huh?

[@thedicetower]

It's a mistake, we're editing out the seal.

[@blakecurry3880]

I think chip drawing from Isofarian Guard will be much more interesting, at least.

[@michaelmueller260]

Oh 100%...and the narrative should be exponentially better.

[@blakecurry3880]

@@michaelmueller260 I almost didn't back Isofarian because I had gone all in on this one, but it's presentations were too good so I ended backing both.

[@michaelmueller260]

@@blakecurry3880 Lucky for me it was a friend of mine that backed Trudvang, so I went all in on Isofarian. I'm feeling like I may have won that contest lol. But who knows, we'll need to see what The Isofarian Guard looks like when it arrives...I definitely have high expectations!

[@arnold2011]

Sounds like why I did not back this game.

[@VinegarAndSaltedFries]

Wow this game changed so much from what Eric Pitched it. Felt like the mechanic really wasn’t nailed down and Quacks came out and took the world by storm with the bag pulling/building and they wanted to shove it into the new IP they got. Such a pity as all the miniatures looked awesome. I pulled out and got a refund after hearing Eric left CMON and they weren’t happy with the game.

[@VinegarAndSaltedFries]

Great Review Tom.

[@alkafluence]

I spy Van Ryder's 'Frontier Wars' on the shelves. Is something upcoming for this?

[@mysticmouse7983]

As soon as E Lang left development and Cmon started reworking stuff because they felt there were problems I got a refund.

[@Nico-ml5eg]

Is it me or is this video glitchy?

[@RulebooksForYou]

Would love to get the opportunity to work with CMON so you never have to say "This rulebook isn't great" :) Also, I would have changed the rules for tests - I knew it was no good after one play!

[@BrianLiming]

Well that confirms I made a good choice to not back that game fully.

[@MerrillWhiteKalEl]

So much potential, but did not become what it could. Glad I backed out of this one.

[@PRC533]

Seems like this video might have had some encoding issues, I'm getting consistent weird artifacting while watching. Either that or maybe the camera is starting to go.

[@joelvelez25]

Tom also disliked Death May Die, which I love, and liked Massive Darkness, which I thought was meh.

[@nerdyjawsh]

Imagine people having different opinions.

[@joelvelez25]

@@nerdyjawsh 👌

[@michaelmueller260]

Tom isn't the only one that dislikes C:DmD...for me it's nothing more than a boring skill check chucker. Trudvang is soooo much worse though. There's just nothing fun or interesting about it. I get why people like C:DmD, it's just not for me...but I can't see how anyone will enjoy Trudvang beyond a scenario or two.

[@joelvelez25]

@@michaelmueller260 👌

[@TheErnieforss]

Lol quacks the dungeon crawler.

[@tabletalk4729]

This is a bummer. The concepts sound great so bummed to hear that the combat and tests are a slog.

[@AdamWhitehead111]

This game didn't interest me initially and restarting development didn't exactly fill me with confidence in the team behind it. There looks to be some interesting ideas here but they seem a bit gimmicky. Small draw bag? Nordic game? This is one where I feel that Sam's opinion would have been entertaining.

[@spunx44]

I thought I had backed this one, but apparently not. Looks like I'm not missing out on anything. If I had received it, it'd be right out the door as soon as it arrived. Looks so boring and unoriginal.

[@michaelmueller260]

Honestly that rating is verrrry generous IMO. I didn't think the narrative was interesting at all, and after about 5 rounds of bag pulling, you start thinking there has to be more than this....but there just isn't. You also can't lose...like it's not possible. What a horrible disappointment and waste of time and money. It borders on being unplayable after about an hour or 2 of gameplay. It's a 3 for me, and that might be too high.

[@jamesfaucher4588]

This feels like a cross between Gloomhaven and Wonderland's War. I would hope that the whole game from start to finish should be fun. Gloomhaven got repetitive, many of the choices were a bit random, and the story was boring for as far as I got. I would hope any new campaign game would fix these issues. It doesn't seem like Trudvang does enough to get my money.

[@bricelory9534]

I haven't gotten far into Trudvang's story, but the first chapter was definitely more engaging than any element of Gloomhaven's story - and I had gotten through a lot of Gloomhaven. I think any of these sorts of games will get repetitive if you binge them, honestly. So far I've liked Trudvang, but I really don't think it'll change the gaming world or anything.

[@michaelmueller260]

Gloomhaven's story is barely there, and can get repetitive...but Trudvang doesn't even belong in a room adjacent to a room where Gloomhaven sits. Trudvang's story is no better...honestly worse as far as creating immersion in the game, and the game mechanics are light years apart. To each their own, but Trudvang is a dumpster fire of boredom imo.

[@bricelory9534]

@@michaelmueller260 lol saying "to each their own" followed by saying the other opinion is a dumpster fire kinda defeats the point of "to each their own"

[@michaelmueller260]

@@bricelory9534 By no means did I say anyone else's opinion was wrong...I said the game was a dumpster fire In My Opinion. I hope other people that backed it actually like or love the game. They spent a lot of money and waited a long time for it. I'm just pointing out how horrible the game is for me. Sorry if it came across as insulting to anyone...not my intention.

[@bricelory9534]

@@michaelmueller260 my apologies, I did miss the "imo" which changes the tone, and I wouldn't have responded as I did, had I seen it! Sorry for the snark!

[@danielwoltanski1413]

We found the game to a boring slog with few choices that felt meaningful in terms of gameplay.

[@antonieschwartz]

I hear it's impossible to really lose in this game. You just continue through failures. That does not sound appealing.

[@TheDungeonDive]

That’s better than playing a game for ten hours, losing, and having to start the campaign over. Fail forward mechanisms respect your time.

[@antonieschwartz]

@@TheDungeonDive that's a good point. For me though, in this case, I'd rather just read Trudvang the novel than play Trudvang the game.

[@manic2360]

Looks and sounds dull...

[@KMReviews]

Oath needs sleeves on the board like this.

[@KMReviews]

Oath needs sleeves on the board like this.