Which have zero context to make it clear how enormous they are.
If it was that much of a concern, it was pretty easy to find context for the size of the boxes from the initial 1st edition Kickstarter.
For instance, here’s a video unboxing from November, 2017:
They’re not actually super huge. I have the original box from the first Kickstarter. It’s smaller than the box for Scythe. It’s about the same size as the Mage Knight box, or Pandemic Legacy or the original edition of–ahem–Robinson Crusoe.
Ah, okay, that’s not too bad then.
Space is an issue, but not enough for me to bother obsessively researching the exact dimensions of every game I buy. They just looked impressively huge in that photo. I guess it’s an illusion.
Yeah, they’re not Kingdom Death: Monster sized. Heck, not even Gloomhaven sized.
Matt’s comparison to the original oblong-shaped Crusoe game box is a good one. The only other comparison point I’d have is maybe shoebox-sized.
It looks like his ‘technically the truth’ lying works. Remember the whole “We don’t sell directly to Amazon” thing?. Well, it turns out that not only did they used to see directly to Amazon, but there are blog posts explaining the ups and down of that, and one about how they will no longer do it.
But, because he’s always, quite forcefully, stating “we DON’T sell directly to Amazon” I guess I believed it to be true, for now Nf always.
EGS? Electronic game systems?
Me too! I posted in one of those threads, and have had to unsubscribe as I can’t be bothered with reading all of the replies.
Any suggestion for a two-player coop that doesn’t take up much space on the table and is readily available via Amazon prime? I’ve got a slight preference for heavily themed versus abstract games. Something fantasy, SF, or adventure-ish would be nice. I’ve got Forbidden desert/island on tablet.
How about Chronicles of Crime? Really works with any number of players and is a fun and challenging detective game.
Elder Sign?
Arkham Horror: The Card Game also works, if you don’t mind the $80 upfront cost and gradual climb to $400 if you want all the scenarios.
Arkham Horror 3rd edition doesn’t take up too much space…yet.
maybe After The Virus … little zombie coop card game.
I have to say, it is fun.
Played Panamax tonight - a friend’s copy, thankfully, since I didn’t like it. He had felt the game would be up my alley because I’m such a fan of Vital Lacerda…and I can sort of see why. It’s definitely a thinky, but thematic Euro…the problem, for me, was that I felt like carrying out the basic activity of the game (shipping goods profitably across the Panama Canal) and actually winning the game were barely connected and the path to victory was both difficult if not impossible to internalize and fighting my every instinct about how to play games of this sort. This is because most of the financial gain and loss in the shipping happens to your company funds, but your company funds have no direct impact on your victory. Only your personal funds do. And you mostly get those from stock dividends, which you may not be getting from your company and which your company’s actual performance impacts very little unless it’s so broke you can’t pay said dividends. But also if you’ve ended up in a position where you want your company to do poorly because you aren’t the primary shareholder and it’s not benefitting you…well, you don’t have much control over that either.
It seems like a smart, tricky design but it just is absolutely not one I enjoyed engaging with.
I’m really eyeing Ghosts of Saltmarsh. My DnD group is coincidentally headed to the sea soon, and I’d love to pull a bunch of stuff from there to throw at them.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it. Panamax is great. Tanking your own company is a great strategy, but not the only one. In the end it’s all about the goods. Trains are a great way to make points too. There is a certain disconnect that you need to establish with new players in regards to boats, company funds, and goods. I think my only issue with the game is the balance of the secret objectives. Some are way better than others.
Oh, I know it’s not the only strategy. Just…there’s a profound disconnect between what I instinctually want to do in that game and what actually is rewarded. And it doesn’t make for an enjoyable experience for me.
True, but that’s a standard in 18xx games and investment games.
Which suggests that I should avoid those as well.
LOL
Yep.
If you like the designers they have some really great games you might like.
Zhanguo
Madiera
Railroad Revolution (i’m 50/50 on this one)
Stonemaier responds to all the criticism lately with the below post. He comes across as pretty reasonable to me but I don’t have a dog in the fight at all. I do enjoy Scythe, Viticulture, and Wingspan however. The couple of times I’ve needed replacement parts for something that arrived damaged, I didn’t have any issues at all with getting them. That’s about the extent of my involvement.
So I attended a trade show one of my distributors put on the last couple of days and got to play a ton of new stuff. Do you guys want me to post 100 photos of new games, summarize, talk about on the podcast, or what works best? :)