Wayfarers of the South Tigris - Board Game Review - Don't Make Me Choose!

[@chrisskourogiannis9700]

You just have to be the best reviewer out there!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

😍😍😍😍😍😍 Awwwww!!!!

[@josephreidy6323]

I recently discovered your channel (via Wingspan Asia) and have really enjoyed your reviews.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Thank you so much!! Welcome aboard! 😍

[@PestiferousJoe]

Luke please do a top ten games that could have benefited for "this" being cut out. You are one of my favorite reviewers because of your criticality even though we disagree on some things. Another good review BTW.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Thank you! And Ooooo that's an interesting topic.....

[@revimfadli4666]

Great idea! Mine would include Keyflower's roads, they add unnecessary restrictions to a game that already demands players to figure out the best hex layouts with future tiles in mind. They don't synergise like its other mechanics

[@GORYOUN]

For me, once I had got the West Kingdom Trilogy I got rid of the North Trilogy. Architects replaces Raiders in my opinion. I find Architect has the right amount going on so that when it resurfaces on a club night with 4 players there is enough going on to make the game interesting without people feeling they need another 2 or 3 plays before they really know what they’re doing. Viscounts is more interesting mechanically but not as good overall when compared with Architects. Paladins unfortunately feels to much like hard work and is too long at 4 player to get any repeat play on a club night. I really like the change in direction with Wayfarers. It feels more interesting mechanically, like Viscounts, but probably suffers a bit from the length to play and having too many options (more bloated?) to feature regularly at a club night. It needs more repeat plays to be able to get into the game. Probably prefer this at 2 player. Currently sits behind Architects and on a par with Viscounts.

[@cwb95k]

I've enjoyed both the plays I've had of Wayfarers and look forward to future plays. I think the way the box is organized makes setup a lot easier. I like the depth this offers! Good review!

[@francopdx]

Thanks for the review. Architects of the West Kingdom is the only game out of all these game trilogy series that I've played (got turned onto it by Before You Play), and I really like it. I've heard that Wayfarers is a heavy game, and it's helpful to hear that it seems more accessible for those who are familiar games of these series.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Fair enough!

[@Tabletop_AshleyRose]

Staring at the rulebook right now... I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS ONE STARTED. Thanks, Luke. Nice review

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@markbeaulieu411]

I've tabled this 2 out of the last 3 weeks. Once at 2 players and once at 4. It was a long game at 4 but I loved it. I like that it keeps me thinking and engaged. I agree with your view on the positives and negatives but I'll want to play this anytime someone else wants to. I love it. I really enjoy the other 3 West Kingdom games (even Paladins...don't ban me it's my least favorite of the 3). But I did see townsfolk cards not cycling enough in our 4 player game because we weren't grabbing vistas and they needed vistas. So when a townsfolk card for a city, harbor, or open sea became available it was grabbed asap. However, I felt it just made us focus elsewhere so I was ok with it. I also grabbed a couple of vistas to take advantage of that. It's a very fun game and I look forward to playing it more. The solo is good, but I think Viscounts is still the top solo mode, but I do love making my tableau in this game. I feel like I've accomplished something by the end of the game even if I don't win. And that's a great thing in a game. My ranking (I like them all quite a bit. Viscounts is a top 10 game for me and Wayfarers looks like it'll get there too) 1) Viscounts of the West Kingdom 2) Wayfarers of the South Tigris 3) Architects of the West Kingdom 4) Raiders of the North Sea 5) I haven't played the others so I can't rank them. I do want to get Circadians First Light 2nd ed and I'd like to get Chaos Order but worry about tabling it

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

It depends on what people want really - games will progress differently!

[@carmenredmann6396]

Good honest review, thanks!

[@hairygnome1787]

Very tempting, this. Too many good games though, and unless I win lottery, never enough money or time to get and play them all! Good video as always.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

You and me both!

[@adangca]

I disagree with your opinions more often than not (I.e Brass is the greatest game eva!!!), but you keep it real with genuine emotion and enthusiasm unlike most review channels that sound like robotic shills. Keep doing what you doing. Much respect.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Thank you so much!! :D

[@marklambert84]

Thanks Luke, as always really enjoy your reviews. Very excited to get this to the table. Looking forward to your thoughts on Solo, which i hear is pretty tough! My favourite is still Architects, never played any of the North series

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Must get that solo vid done! :D

[@royceahrens9397]

Definitely takes more plays to get the game length down but it definitely comes down. Last week I played (2) 3 player games of this and both plays combined took less than 2 hours. This game is much like Viscounts in the fact that game length is dictated by the group that is playing. If no one is pushing the journal track than you will get a longer game. If someone is pushing the journal track though you can be surprised on how quick this game can play. Most of my 4 player games are right around 90 minutes however some do hit the 2 hour mark.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Any new players and I never see 4 players reach 90.

[@morpheus587]

New Subscriber here... although your accent is a little wonky 😜, you are doing a great job with your reviews. I really like the different ratings at the different player counts. Thanks A Lot!!!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Thanks for the sub! Appreciate it!

[@krstakg12]

In 2 players maybe is 90 minutes but when you dont look what other player is doing you must look what to do for your next action. Only then you can finish in 90 min. If you folow everything what second player is doing you are losing a lot of time. Yesterday we tried for the second time to play this game it was around 2 hours.

[@nirszi]

Very curious about your solo thoughts.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah I forgot to record it 🤣 but I'll get round to it

[@Ruloathesome]

Cheers Luke I have unboxed but not attacked this yet my order of choice is Paladins Raiders then Architects thus far. Just hope the iconography is headache free

[@cocohoneytahiti]

I am having the same ranking, and squeezing Viscounts in between Paladins and Raiders

[@tiagoazevedosoares]

Great review, Luke, as always. I only played it on TTS a couple times and didn't find the luck factor to be a big problem. Might need to play it more to have a more sustained opinion. I agree with the game length, tho. No way a 4 player game will be under 90 minutes. Apart from that, another very solid Garphill release. Doesn't do anything new, but what it does, does it right.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Fair enough!

[@PeterMedved02]

I agree.

[@jamescartwright1150]

Great video as always Luke. I didn't like any of the West Kingdom games but I'm really liking this one it's up there with Raiders for me, will be interesting to see what you think of the solo. Explorers is a good game and the BYOS solo variant is fine too.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

None of the WKs'!?

[@jamescartwright1150]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I got Architects and after a few plays solo and multiplayer ended up trading it away. I watch play-throughs and reviews of the other two and they just didn't grab me so decided to skip them.

[@TheHexyBeast]

when i played it at ukge i mistook the track for the spaces between lol its visual interface design isnt as good as other games they have done but it does look pretty good when u have a full engine. great video Stay Hexy!

[@wprothwell]

It's interesting that you like this while not liking Paladins as much. The Dice Tower folks put out their review yesterday, and their first comment was, "if you like Paladins, you'll like this!" I tend to agree, although I think that is mostly because of the weight and thinkiness than any mechanical similarity.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

What DT failed to distinguish was that Paladins has you spamming the same two actions all the time and there's pretty much zero interaction. Wayfarers has all sorts of paths to take and tactical opportunities and even though it's not super interactive I'm still very interested in what they are doing.

[@wprothwell]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Hahaha, I may be bad at Paladins because that is definitely not how I play.

[@Original_Maverick]

This is my first Garphill game and I've been loving it. I love the decision space! Been playing it solo mostly but is been very enjoyable. I know some have worried about that card stagnation; my suggestion has been when someone does the draw three action is to keep one, put one in the market, then put one on the bottom. I will say I wish the inspiration was a draw 4 and choose one situation but that hasn't been a huge issue for me. I know those inspiration worker placement spots are there for a reason, but I tend not to use those very much either... Anyway thanks for the review Luke. Was looking forward to your thoughs on this one. Figured the length would be a factor for you, it is hard to ignore. For me the table space is the bigger issue, but that just means I need a bigger table 😅

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Talk about jumping in at the deep end!

[@Original_Maverick]

Well I had to figure out Perseverance solo a few months back 😅 This really wasn't too bad, lol.

[@family_meeple]

Would love to hear your thoughts on solo for this one.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I did a whole solo video right after this. 😉

[@family_meeple]

@@TheBrokenMeeple perfect! I will check it out.

[@PeterMedved02]

I agree with your assessment of game length and randomness, however I don’t see those as negatives. Any card game or dice game will most likely have randomness. There you can choose to design your map to give you flexibility to mitigate your dice rolls or take some bigger risks. Cards are on display, you can go after what you want aggressively and or take so your opponents don’t get them. I think it is the best of the line of games. Just above RotNS with all the expansions. Again I think you are spot on with calling out points of the game, but I just don’t see them as much as a negative.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

A long game with randomness is rarely seen as a positive. It's not fun to have invested time into a path and only for bad luck to be the cause of its downfall when you've spent 2-3 hours in the game. In a 30 min filler, yeah who cares, but after all that time I don't want my fate decided by a die roll.

[@PeterMedved02]

@@TheBrokenMeeple i understand that. I think if you build out you map well, you can really manipulate your dice. I totally agree on the length of the game. I agree that long games with a lot of randomness are not generally favored. The games I have lost, I’ve felt it was due to poor planning on my part and not getting an efficient engine going rather than bad luck. There is generally a lot of options and paths you can take. Again I’m not disagreeing with the points you call out, maybe I just haven’t been burned by really bad rolls or opinions in the display. I only have 6 plays in. Split between 2 and 3 players. 2 players have averaged 2 hours and 3 about 2:30. I do like your house rule about refreshing the inspiration cards, but I have also taken one so others would not get it. Maybe I’m a bit more likely to deny an opponent a huge bonus than some. Getting the sun and moon is massive points. You can’t just give those points away without fighting for it. It is still an amazing game for what it does and the experience. Honestly I never even looked at the game length on the box. I think all the little nuances of the game are amazingly blended. I don’t thin we are too far off. It’s a 9.5 for me

[@muhabwahby]

aaaaaah.. explorers, the true carcassonne killer. Back to the review now..

[@muhabwahby]

Didn't back BUT planning on getting both scholars and Wayfarers together in the future and pick one to keep, did that for paladins and viscounts as well. Personally, I've decided to keep only one game of each 'series' so far, so I've kept explorers, viscounts and first light. Need a tigris and historic (Scythia, most probably). Thanks again for such a telescopic gazing review Luke. I was looking forward to yours especially.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Scythia is just Raiders + expansion and some other tweaks.

[@muhabwahby]

@The Broken Meeple yes, I just want my to try the added horses and hawk mechanic. Or would you say legacy of yu, is a far superior solo experience? Cheers bud.

[@omgwtforz]

Should have waited for explorers and shipwrights version 2. Its currently in development.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Ah well, it was store credit anyway! :P

[@mkitten13]

Currently for me I would say: In collection: 1) Paladins of the West Kingdom 2) Wayfarers of the South Tigris 3) Architects of the West Kingdom 4) Raiders of the North Sea Not in collection: 5) Viscounts of the West Kingdom (sold it, the solo was alright, but I felt the multiplayer was kinda messy and the game just didn't feel as interesting to me as the others) 6) Shipwrights of the North Sea (tried it once ages ago, clearly didn't make much of an impression since I don't really remember anything from it) Not played: Explorers of the North Sea (don't know anyone who has it and I normally don't play much pick-up and deliver type games, so not acquired it for myself either)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I haven't even felt compelled to play the Explorers game I grabbed just to see what it was like - I doubt it will amount to much honestly.

[@andrethannhauser6302]

I have only played the West Kingdom trilogy. I would rank them the following: 1. Paladins (8.25) - coloured workers just awesome - Paladin cards unique - I like the theme most - best 1-3 2. Viscounts (8.0) - great card management incl small deck building - unfortunately lowest theme....I dont get the viscounts riding around in circles (mechanically it's interesting but sensewise?!) ;-) - best 3 3. Architects (8.0) - great worker+player interaction - easiest one which can be a positive or negative - somehow I felt it has the lowest replayability so the rating might Go down a bit - best 4

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Where does 0.25 come fromt :P

[@andrethannhauser6302]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Well, two years ago, I started rating games in full steps. After 150 or so games I found this to be not detailed enough especially with so many games between 6 and 8. So I decided to go with 0.5 steps what a not too small part of the KZbinrs also does. Then, 1 year later 200-250 or so games even that became too rough....etc etc. In few years.... ;-)

[@Oaklestat]

Dont forget Circadians!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Oh yeah, I thought it was ok, just didn't go mad for it. Only played first version.

[@dennisleung463]

Didn’t back this one cos of KS prices and relocation but Luke you’ve nailed it again. I’ve always enjoyed your critical reviews and sense of humour. Might need to give this a hunt 🤝

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Much appreciated!

[@roze8175]

Between wayfarers and scholars which do u like better?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Haven't played Scholars, andl ikely won't until it releases - i prefer to play a physical copy first. By the looks of things I think I'm going to prefer Wayfarers.

[@Girruuth]

7. Explorers - Not played, tile laying isn't my favorite so it would likely be here anyway 6. Shipwrights - A basic card game, a little simplistic for my taste. A Redux is in the works which should improve it. 5. Architects - The lightest of the West Kingdom games, Expansions really elevate this one. 4. Raiders - My First Garphill game and my Favorite for a long time Paladins - Supplanted Raiders as my favorite Garphill game. So much brain burning 2. Viscounts - This is currently a tie, mostly because of how much the expansions add and how great the Solo game is to play. Almost as thinky as Paladins. 1. Wayfarers - The interweaving of game mechanix is so tight and clean, makes for a wonderful game experience for me. Nearly as Thinky as Paladins, more Thinky than Viscounts. New Favorite! Scholars, due out maybe next year, will probably be sitting the mix with Viscounts and Paladins, just not sure yet.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Light doesn't mean bad! :D A great multiplayer game is Architects!

[@Girruuth]

@@TheBrokenMeeple didn't say that it was bad. This is just up against other Garphill games. I think VERY highly of all Garphill games in general.

[@Oaklestat]

For me i rank them (currently) 1. Circadians First Light 2. Raiders 3. Architects 4. Wayfarers 5. Viscounts 6. Paladins I haven't played Explorers, Shipwrights, Chaos Order

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Glad many rank about Paladins! :D

[@wsiegel9539]

While Explorers is a good game, I will not play it without the Rocks of Ruin expansion. To me it kicks the game up a solid notch. And they are redoing Shipwrights with a whole new system, so we shall see about that one. Wayfarers took me about 3 hours with full setup and teach for 4 players. The game play was just a bit over 2 hours I would say, Not too bad. But not 60-90 minutes. This one strike a nice note with me and will join the West Kingdom Series.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

There was an expansion for Explorers? Oh crap! 🤔

[@johnnylove001]

They are redoing shipwrights? Any link or infos about that?

[@wsiegel9539]

@@johnnylove001 Nothing official released yet, just play testers for Garphill games already played it and mentions on Discord and some comments from Shem. If I dig up the comments I will share.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Tribble!

[@Feldingor]

I strongly disagree!! With someone. At some point. 😂😂 Good review 👍 This game ticks a lot of my boxes as well. Hopefully I’ll get it before February (Italian publisher went late 🤷‍♂️) I don’t like the layout in their rulebooks very much as well: too much overhead in the first half of the rulebooks before giving even an overview on how the game is played. It should definitely be the other way around

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Agreed - once you realise that and read it in the correct fashion it's more legible.

[@Thebrad11984]

I played this once and was extremely tired when we played but this game did not hit at all for me. I felt like it was one that could have been trimmed a little. The placing influence on cards felt mostly pointless. The worker system where one player can essentially hoard them all was kind of odd to me but I ended up with one of my workers just chilling by my board the whole time because I didn’t feel the need to do the action. I also saw a few times where when placing a worker the person trying to place thought they would get to do the action on the card. I liked the dice worker placement aspect and how you could upgrade the “faces” but in our game which was 4 I found that the decks were all pretty stagnant from a symbols standpoint at the very least. I think in our game we only saw maybe 3 observatories and libraries. I’ll hopefully try it again when I’m more with it but this game felt like one that gets a lot of hype because of who designed it more so than because it’s good mechanically. I’ve also only played paladins so the iconography though familiar felt like a little bit of a mess in this game

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

The series does get hype for its pedigree history I do agree with you. Hence I usually am confident to back a new one, but won't judge it until I've played it. Scholars for instance I've backed out of confidence, but I won't know if it's a good game or not until I've tried it.

[@flickingbollocks5542]

Tigris = Tygris not Teegris.

[@stevensum2011]

Heavy game will be longer... can't be helped....