Unreliable Wizard and What Makes a Good Solo Game

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[@NoPunIncluded]

human made captions will be available tomorrow. sorry we're late again.

[@Kihen9]

No problem we can wait ^^

[@davidgould8641]

Thank you so much for doing them. My partner is hard of hearing and we appreciate the hard work put into it.

[@MaxLoy]

@@davidgould8641 seconding this, I use hearing aids and proper captions are such a huge boon for me. autogenerated captions always fail at the point where I need them the most, where it's difficult to tell what's been said. very much appreciate anyone who spends the time to do these properly

[@NoPunIncluded]

Captions are now available.

[@richardhutnik]

Efka being AI generated is confirmed! 🥷

[@dreamshade]

Under Falling Skies is a real math puzzle of a solo game - which is to say that I liked it way more than most people. It's a solo worker placement game, where your workers are dice that you roll each round. The number on the die is the strength of the worker that you place, but it's also the number of spaces that a space invader flies toward your base. So you sometimes need to roll low dice in order to move the aliens less or to move an alien onto a strategic targeting point. It's a great mix of puzzle and randomness, and I played the campaign twice to see every city in the game.

[@meathir4921]

Under Falling Skies' only real flaw imo is that the changes to macro level strategy are only really affected by setup factors. But the moment to moment die rolls are amazingly tense.

[@renatocarvalho6059]

I absolutely love Under Falling Skies. If not my favorite, at least it definitely is my most played solo game.

[@georginatoland]

Thank you for the review and even more thanks for the games that you listed with better mechanics. This is what makes your channel a cut above others. ❤

[@VinegarAndSaltedFries]

Final Girl is my all time favorite. It;s difficult and funny and great. Witchcraft is amazing…absolutely love it. Great video.

[@0zeronumber]

Keith Haring!!!! The artist champion of champions. Minimal chalk from NYC subways to beyond. Right on Efka!

[@NoPunIncluded]

Right on Elaine!

[@MarkBlasco]

Great points as to what makes a good solo game. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Welcome To The Moon is when played solo. Good choices to make, 8 different maps with substantially different strategies required, a variable difficulty so you can adjust to your skill level, and a campaign that adds in new challenges and changes the more you play.

[@richardclegg8027]

It does not get enough love.

[@josephpilkus1127]

Excellent video, Efka! As a designer and developer, I have long conversations with my clients that creating a puzzle is great...one that is solvable, isn't.

[@damiec1100]

Another great video 🤗 Warps Edge has to be my favorite solo only game, a roguelite thats a great mix of bag building & the FTL: Faster than light video game

[@leobetosouza]

I really like how you tell us how you think a game is. The majority of the YT reviewers don't do it. Thank you.

[@negoc78]

Thanks for reminding me of having Maquis in my shelf! Played it once and found out there is some cool depth in it (i failed at that attempt) - wanted to play again "soon" and incorporate what i learned in game one... and never did... so. Will be played again soon! Thanks! - nice insights!

[@ObsidianKnight90]

For anyone interested in solo-oriented fantasy adventure games with a focus on low randomness but tons of interesting choices and replayability, check out Joe Klipfel's games. Dragons of Etchinstone and Hand of Destiny are entirely card based and can be played in your hands. Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs distills Gloomhaven into a very tactical solo puzzle campaign with minimal setup. Rome: Fate of an Empire is his upcoming game which contains elements of Mage Knight and Chronicles of Frost. On that note, he's made mini versions of a bunch of excellent solo games including Pocket Watch (for Set a Watch), Mistsmall (for Mistfall), and Birdscaping (for Wingspan). His games are excellent and absolutely worth a spot on your shelf if you're interested in solo gaming.

[@boeta9778]

how about for non solo one?

[@ObsidianKnight90]

@@boeta9778 Co-op or competitive?

[@boeta9778]

@@ObsidianKnight90 prefer competitive

[@novatheorem]

Man, I cannot say thank you enough for the quality and thought added in here.

[@nERVEcenter117]

Games should not play themselves. The difference between strategic risk mitigation and outright roll-and-move seems to be lost on many designers.

[@maxbooth179]

People want games that play themselves, but they also want to be made to feel like they're the ones in control

[@aliasalias7546]

​@@maxbooth179 Who wants that? People want little upkeep, but nobody wants the game to play itself.

[@yarondavidson6434]

@@aliasalias7546 If you analyze your options and see that one is clearly the best, then the game plays itself. If you analyze your options and there are multiple alternatives that are just as good, then your success at the game is entirely random chance. 😛

[@aidam6152]

As someone who only knew about Resist! and One Deck Dungeon, this video felt like a look into a alternative reality, where the games I know exist in sligthly different versions.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

Watched Mike play this on the Dice Tower and I did NOT get his excitement over it. Glad to see someone else sees the same thing. Good job mentioning Maquis. This game has flown under the radar for too long.

[@Antaiseito]

Love the desicions and risk/reward Maquis presents you with. An interesting one is Hostage Negotiator and Final Girl. You decide what you want to do and then roll if it's a success, great success or catastrophic failure. So the luck comes after the decision, which is often bad, but in these games imo creates an unbelievable level of stress that fits the theme (escaping from a killer) quite well if you're into that. And there's many rolls, so you can try to switch tactics if need be.

[@camh.3656]

Realy love maquis and resist! 2 other very good solo games for me : - Halls of Hegra (longer, like 1:30 but so immersive) - The gods will have blood (very special this one)

[@boodesultan12]

Recently played final girl and it uses dices and multiple categories of random cards all in order to be Unique and challenging and they uses "if" pharses as well so it has alot of luck factor that you can then decide how you can utilize it or turn it into your advantage

[@user-ci5sf5qj2k]

Thanks for the review.

[@robertchmielecki2580]

Aeon's End has been an absolute hit for my solo plays for a couple of years already. So much depth, so many decisions at every turn and phase, good challenge, tension and surprise, bewildering variety of starting conditions (with expansions ;)). I always play with two mages to provide a good opportunity for cool combos. Can't recommend this game enough.

[@corynardin]

A punishing review but you bright up such interesting points about what makes a good or bad solo experience.

[@eriksjogren800]

Thanks for the video

[@Tolinar]

Thank you and good job.

[@normstewart546]

Great review.

[@IndianaGeologist]

Great video

[@shaike82]

You could house rule that you will see all the rewards - and then it adds some level of choice I guess

[@RoNPlayer]

I also highly recommend "Resist!" - the anti-francoist revolutionary twin of "Witchcraft!".

[@michaellee6537]

Can’t agree more. Thanks NPI

[@inwyrdn3691]

What is the picture with the blue, green, and red person above your couch? I swear I've seen something like it before but can't recall where or in what circumstance. Also - good review. Witchcraft looks enjoyable, and I like the theme. Now, about that picture?

[@MysticKenji2]

That might be a Keith Haring poster or painting, the art style looks about right

[@NoPunIncluded]

yeah it's Keith Haring

[@kmontzka]

Thank you, for not only for revealing the flaws in Unreliable Wizard but also for acknowledging other well-designed games. A similar example for me is 20 Strong: wanted to like it, bought it, then played many games and hated how random it all was. And indeed, life is too short for bad gaming!

[@morganb2003]

20 Strong sits unplayed on my shelf after a week or so of me thinking I was the problem. I only tried the TMB and Solar Sentinels variants, but so often I'd be in an unwinnable situation several plays into the game.

[@Theplaysthet]

Me too! I really didn’t like 20 strong… And Dice Tower were pretty positive about it and i was like…. Huh?

[@notlaw1976]

Maquis and Witchcraft are two games on my list that you may jave just shunted up a few places 😉 I find both of them so appealing, along with Resist! which i believe Witchcraft is a reskin of anyway. If you could only choose one of them to take with you while you were away for a week on your own, which one would you pick?

[@strangevenom]

Imagine my surprise when I bump into Elaine in Sherwood the other day! Hope you're both doing well!!!

[@NoPunIncluded]

Ha! I think Elaine was just as surprised that someone recognised her in Sherwood. Thanks for saying hello!

[@ragnartheone2387]

You REALLY need to try out "Interplanetary: A giant hop for Squeakind" 🌟 - a 1.5h Squirrel Astronaut Solo Game! I found that via a YT-comment under your "space game"-And it really warrants its own No Pun Included video, or at least a more explicit recommendation.

[@NoPunIncluded]

Okay, but if it's bad I am holding you personally responsible.

[@tuckerroveto1058]

Oh yes! That is an awesome game name, one Terry would even play.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Pocketbook adventures is a great solo game that has possibly the most fun randomising feature I've seen in a game.

[@arthureames9715]

Couldn’t agree with you more!

[@johnnywocash6701]

Thanks you very much for another great video. I’m with you regarding adding Chance to a solo but also a coop game (same logic) to set it aside from a puzzle. But there are different ways to add an amount of luck to a game. It should be possible to take educated guesses or to calculate your chance. As you were saying you need information.

[@tobyr21]

It's fantastic how you compare games to illustrate how solo games vary in agency. Please bear in mind that some players LIKE games where "anything can happen" and there's not much the player can do about it. (I prefer games with lot of agency.) -toby

[@NoPunIncluded]

If Unreliable Wizard was a game where anything could happen I would have liked it much more. Instead it's a game where I do x number of damage every turn.

[@landlboardgames]

I'm enjoying solo games more and more recently. Resist and Maquis are both great. Good solo games give you tough decisions to make every turn, regardless of what you roll or turn over. Sometimes bad dice rolls don't ruin a game and can go with theme (final girl, Nemo's War). But failing should just be another obstacle that leads to more decision-making

[@grantevans1973]

Who is the guitarist behind you on the wall?

[@philipthonemann2524]

A brilliant, thoughtful, interesting, review. Very much appreciated!

[@galaxytrucker1212]

Couldn't agree more. I want to add After the Virus to the recommendations. It's an easy to learn deckbuilder with a great expansion also available.

[@Theplaysthet]

Yeah this should have been called ‘I’m not telling u any information’ Wizard. You are sooo right. I played this and it’s fiiiiiiiiiine. It’s fiiiiiiiine….. Thanks for another great video!

[@reallyidrathernot.134]

I just like hearing "combat" rhyme with "wombat".

[@dancondonjones]

How could it ever not rhyme?

[@reallyidrathernot.134]

bit like how i bought "octopus crash" after a one sentence mention in a video one time. woops.

[@bigsarge2085]

👍👍

[@styfen]

So, it's sounding a lot like mini Rogue. That's not a game I need a second copy of in my life. I'll stick with Marquis, Black Sonata and the underrated "The Forgotten Road". That last one is absolutely what Unreliable Wizzzard wishes it was

[@Antaiseito]

Oh, thank you for reminding me of Black Sonata. Was planning to get that when i had a little solo game craze but it wasn't available.

[@mosschop71]

Thank god, I thought I was just being a sourpuss about Unreliable Wizard. After several plays I still couldn't work out how it was possible to win without plain luck driving the narrative. Turns out it is as shallow as I thought it was!

[@kettchuk918]

I found Maquis a puzzle that once solved, that was it, that help sheet would shorten it's shelf life completely. How does galaxy compare to dungeon? With dungeon, the cruel-fate factor of "my character has max yellow dice, all the doors need max blue or pink" killed it for me. Yes, you still get the card, but the hits soon add up and the card burn limits the number of goes now available to get more dice.

[@0zeronumber]

Marquis expansions in kickstarter...maybe good

[@ChadUrsoMcDaniel]

ODG improves on those points. There are multiple ways to deal with threats and a place to make use of less useful dice.

[@koalabrownie]

I found galaxy hard to understand and the few times i played it I lost before I even realized I was in danger. Wasn't like ODD where my health is going down, down, down- was instead oh this card flips? game over. That kind of put me off and haven't tried it again. My fav solo dice game is still Wreckland Run

[@kettchuk918]

@@0zeronumber I didn't think that much of the puzzle in the first place ;)

[@kettchuk918]

@@koalabrownie I've found "flip it and die no matter what you've done" the hardest mechanic to love :p

[@cadenlaptad3247]

At only 5 minutes into the video, it’s clear that a part of this conversation is the difference between variability and replayability - randomness / variance is not coincident with great replayability. Additional steps must be taken to ensure the random aspects of set-up / play actually create different player-driven decisions as opposed to various flavors of the same choices. I too am exhausted by the inability for designers and publishers to target this distinction effectively, and I wish more attention was put into understanding what makes games compelling and how variance can augment the core experience in meaningful ways and with actually meaningful differences / decisions. Excited to see what the rest of the video holds.

[@spnoreika]

C0ntent that's cr3ated in a truly reliable fashion!

[@Ainar86]

I mean, if the game looks and sounds like an actual Rogue-like is it really surprising that it plays like one?

[@TechFan711]

Unreliable wizard sounds like a worse "mini rogue". Great video!

[@Saucialiste]

It's gracious to do a severe reviews, but to spruce it with example of how to right those wrong. Sadly, I would speculate Unreliable wizard in fact did its job well. It was a Kickstarter experience, designed to entice pledges and induce hype. Maybe play experience wasn't really a concern, nor the target product.

[@dancondonjones]

Everything you said made me think of The Lost Expedition. The decisions were all either blinding obvious or such a punt based on what you draw next that there was no point really thinking about it - lovely art though.

[@reyjo1759]

As a caveat, I've only played the game once, and I have not played the other games you've listed. I have played other games solo, though. Whilst I agree on your points about the map, I have to disagree about the thing with forced decisions. You could make this argument for many great games, like castles of burgundy. You roll the dice and there is a mathematically correct answer on how to use them. The fun lies in finding that answer, or just going with whatever local maximum you found in a reasonable time. And yes, the puzzle of which cards to choose and how many you draw is a much simpler equation. BUT there are interesting choices here. Mostly how greedy you want to be. Do I need to draw one more card to kill that monster, or can I get away with drawing one card less, and killing it most likely? Same with which spells to go for. I've also felt that the game lived up to its title. It's Unreliable Wizard, not Chaotic Wizard. You do know how to cast spells, you're just not able to perform them every time. Which leads to accidental heals, or lower damage, but not catastrophy like a fireball to your own face.

[@NoPunIncluded]

Hey, whatever floats your boat! I didn't find those decisions particularly interesting (especially in comparison to other games in the solo only genre I could be playing), but if you did, then I'm really glad you're having a grand time with the game.

[@reyjo1759]

@@NoPunIncluded that's fair, thank you for sharing your thoughts in these great videos!

[@shaike82]

Too bad it is almost impossible to find Witchcraft! to buy...

[@gregratosh250]

I'm with you on Unreliable Wizard. What a disappointing playthrough -- the game pretty much plays itself, and all seemingly-crunchy decisions (like which cards to put in your deck) actually degenerate into simple optimization exercises. I got the expansion but didn't play it yet, does anyone here know whether it solves the problem and has more crunchy decision-space?

[@LeTerrorist88]

It doesn't, unfortunately. 3 plays of main game, 1 of the expansion.

[@aaastrike91]

I played both the game and the expansion two times and found that I enjoyed the expansion more than the base game.

[@jesusfreakpl]

i bought this... and the expansion... fcuk ADHD impulse purchases...

[@svai303]

Thank you for putting (so many) words on my frustration about this game. So disappointing...

[@tahunuva4254]

7:56 Kinda disagree with this, at least as a general principle rather than as a matter of intelligectual preference. To a sufficiently brainy mind, randomness doesn't create any tension in decision making because they can simply crunch the probabilities and choose accordingly. "Fuzziness" doesn't make sense to them (or rather, it makes too much sense), so they'd be justified in calling every game that relies on randomness a solved puzzle. Conversely, simpletons like your truly still consider solvable puzzles as fun games (hello Solitaire - The ball one, not the card game). Sometimes solving the puzzle _is_ the game. All depends on the subject. That being said I'd definitely prefer to play Witchcraft over Unreliable Wizard :P

[@augustsmith9633]

Gotta love that dice tower approves garbage seal

[@HazardGoat]

Pixel art for a physical card game is just weird. I had the same reaction to Boss Monster. I get it, this is an aesthetic choice, it just doesn't work for me.

[@dio1122able]

I was disappointed in this game. Played a few times and sold it. One Deck Dungeon is the same vibe but vastly superior

[@proxidize5738]

This man hates boardgames fr, wonder why he has a running yt channel dedicated to em'

[@ChadUrsoMcDaniel]

Are you new here?

[@houdini329]

Don't feed the trolls