Windmill Valley - Board Game Review - My God They Discovered Colour!

[@jacobjslee]

Thanks for this review. I wasn't really considering it, but I wanted to see what you have to say about it. I was in a forum discussing different reviewers and your name had not been mentioned so I threw it out there and tried to explain why I trust you the most. I hope it brings you new subscribers.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Awww thank you! Sadly I'm still a relative unknown for many, everyone just focuses on the same big names even though many will never say a bad word about a game. I appreciate the support!!

[@bens9357]

I was drawn to Windmill Valley by the upgrading of the wheels! It reminds me of the upgrading of your player board / company building in Carnegie with the department tiles. Do you know of any other games (especially medium weight) which have a similar mechanic of personalising your player area with tiles? Thank you! (And I love how clear you are about the good and bad of games in your reviews)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Wild Gardens that I just reviewed has that. And thanks for the kind words!

[@elainetyger]

Thanks for this review! I've been intrigued by this game and nothing you said has put me off of it, though I realize I will have to choose carefully who my fellow players will be; I don't right off the bat want that one friend who immediately figures out the path to victory while reading the rules PDF on the subway en route to meet me, and then steamrolls right to it if there's a way, and I don't want someone who thinks through every permutation more slowly either. It seems like if you have a group who's just interested in trying different things to see how they work at first, everyone will enjoy from the start. Viticulture vibes from the art/theme.

[@alicia1465]

I wonder if it could have something similar to Lisboa’s Queen Variant that cuts off end-game scoring cards at a certain point of the game; but then, I don’t know if grabbing a helper at the end would be all that helpful, so that might be why they kept it this way. Thanks for the review!

[@Puzzu]

Great review! I was on the fence about this one, and from your thoughts, I think I'd love to try this given how smooth it sounds but not one that I necessarily need to own given how linear/non-interactive it seems, not sure about long term replayability. I guess you're not a fan of Tiletum but I think I'd rather pull that off the shelf to try, I heard it does have a bit more interaction compared to this one.

[@mkitten13]

I'm really looking forward to this one, I love me some cogwheel mechanic :D

[@BillyIndiana]

Thanks for the overview and review. I don't play solo often, so I think it will be a try before buy game for me 👍

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

No problem 👍

[@sadekhanna]

Black tulips are harder to come by both in the game and real life that's why that contract gives so many points. You can see that those contract cards scale the points for the colours according to the placement of the fields on the board. I know that there are other ways to get tulips, but still, it just makes sense.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I get why black tulips would score more but it still pales to easier windmill placements

[@Patronux]

the point was that black tulips ARE harder to get but the windmill contracts still give more points than black tulips contracts

[@sadekhanna]

@@Patronux you don't place as many windmills and they cost you money

[@a-c-m]

The bright colours are clearly no one-off for Board&Dice recently. Both Barcelona and Nucleum also already featured an eccentric and hallucinogenic colour pallet…

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

But that make the game actually look clean and good on the table though? Barcelona is a fiddly mess of stuff on the table. You can barely make out stuff and it looks cluttered as hell. And Nucleum?? Nothing but dull brown and green everywhere? That's not what I call a good use of colour. If that's meant to be a looker for them, they failed.

[@a-c-m]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Nucleum has lots of purple and orange on top of those unusual neon greens... I don’t like either of those three graphic designs, but at least they are trying something new. So an „A“ for effort but still a „F“ for performance

[@Original_Maverick]

Just saw Paul's video of Reef Project, which is a looker as well. Definitely appreciate the steps B&D are making in the art department.

[@danpalmer7676]

I have commented elsewhere that i dislike the colours. Makes it resemble a kid's game.

[@shinyhappymeeple]

I really rate this…..it’s just good fun to play

[@vangelisevangelou]

Thanks. Great review.

[@shatnershairpiece]

Yeah, as far as the rows, one of the worst design choices is ‘obvious best choice’ I never understood why that is ever in a game or how it gets past playtesting. It was the same reason (but there were many others) I hated kutna horror (obvious best church bonuses) and sold it immediately. Thanks for this. Was on my radar but will skip.

[@ludovico2069]

hi. Thank you for the video. I`d like to ask you a question. As the number of rounds is variable, will still be played under 90 minutes with 4 players, or it will need 2 hours, or more? Thank you

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

It does depend on the players though at least one player should be going at reasonable speed. MAX you will need 2 hours.

[@ludovico2069]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Thank you very much for your prompt answer!

[@CarlosRodriguez-ez3ls]

Don't know this game but why doesn't competition for worker placement spots or contracts or resources count in favor of player interaction? Granted some games are tighter than others but how can that be considered a solitaire experience? Thx!

[@ilqrd.6608]

Depends on what you define as interaction. For me player interaction is when a player intentionally interacts with another player’s decisions space so to slow them down or throw them off. If this interaction also benefits their own game then even better. Placing your worker in a spot just to prevent someone else from going there is super rare in games. Off the top of my head only Argent the Consortium had truly interactive worker placement in that sense

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I don't mean interaction as always meaning "mean interaction" - but it's a case of "how much do i take an interest in what my opponents are doing"? Some games have you really care about the strategies others are following, what objectives we're racing to, what important spaces are available. This game has very little of that. I honestly couldn't care less what strategy you're following as 95% it's not going to be the same as mine. You want a Euro game with a ton of useful interaction elements - play Whistle Mountain.

[@Wealtharch]

Compared to Tzolkin, which one do you prefer?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

This one - it's much easier to get to the table and teach.

[@Wealtharch]

Thanks so much

[@ilqrd.6608]

Great review! The tulip scoring has been the single most annoying thing in this game and preventing me from buying it.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

You mean the rows and columns?

[@shawns3911]

And how would you compare the solo to, for example, the solo of vale of eternity?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Ha ha dear god! Right, I'm going to try and remember tomorrow!! :P

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I just played it and posted a report on your BGG thread 👍😁

[@shawns3911]

@@TheBrokenMeeple You must have cheated 😏...thanks for trying it out

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@shawns3911 ha ha no I just found a broken combo I think 🤣

[@michaelbudden4799]

There is a good game somewhere in this but Board & Dice are absolutely awful at developing games properly and making sure they’re even vaguely balanced. Their entire model is to bang games out as quickly as possible. I’ve seen it so often with their products. So many of them have glaring issues.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I could certainly see that on the T games.

[@shortydancer]

I think if you’d change your Futurama references to Simpsons references, you’d overtake dice tower with sub count.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Why??

[@shortydancer]

@@TheBrokenMeeple lol I just like the Simpsons better. Only seasons 1-8 though.