Ah, so I won’t get spoiled as long as I don’t look at the spoilers? Got it. ;)
(I appreciate your help but this is why I avoid errata, unfortunately.)
For a game like this I try to learn from the rules. I’m going to be referencing the rules at some point, might as well spend that 37 minutes familiarizing myself with where things are. (If it’s a game like Cartographers, though, I’ll definitely put on a 15-minute video, since I’ll probably never have to look at the rules again.)
There is seriously no way the errata will spoil it unless you specifically look at and read the sections clearly marked adventure cards (3 entries at the bottom of that page) or storybook (all in the next page).
Up to you, of course. But I found it useful.
Edit: to be more helpful, here is the errata sans spoilers.
Haha aww, that’s really nice of you! Thanks!
I did peek at the errata earlier and I also didn’t want to see those “helpful tips” (which you have helpfully removed). I generally want to figure out my own helpful tips unless I need some help! I didn’t read them, though.
I’m also the guy who avoids reading the “Here’s how to solve the first few puzzles” page in old adventure game manuals.
Happy to help. The helpful tips were added because some players complained that the game was too hard. But I agree it’s also fun to figure this out for ourselves. Good luck on your campaign!
Game designers, please just assume this is always going to happen for every game.
At least they can’t nerf a board game with a patch.
I played through the first 6 Events. I’m a sucker for the gamebook-style “storybook” stuff, but I can’t see this being particularly interesting to replay. I know the world is big and there’s no chance I’ll see everything on this playthrough – but what, do they expect me to just launch off for a different part of the map on my next playthrough and ignore all the starter stuff in the starter area?
My main two criticisms beyond that are:
- It feels like a bunch of disparate game mechanics (worker placement, basic adventure game fedex quests, gamebook) scotch-taped together in an attempt to feel epic. Each component of which is fairly basic.
and 2. The theming, characters, story – basically the “flavor” – feels very anodyne, nonthreatening, and personality-less. “But it’s for the whole family!” you might say. To which I say, bro. I chowed down on personality-loaded entertainment in my childhood. Family-friendly doesn’t have to mean devoid of ideas.
These are snap judgements after a limited amount of play, I freely admit that.
No I don’t think so, since the difficulty increases the further from the start you go. I think in the initial plays you’d explore more thoroughly and map out the keywords so you can path through the early stuff optimally the next times, with less backtracking.
My snap judgements were here, and to be honest I have not really played it since:
Interesting. We just finished our first session (got a couple of cards into the second part of the event deck) and absolutely loved it.
Not only does the game look epic, but it also feels like there is a whole world waiting to be lived in and explored.
We found the story very engaging and are torn on which of our quests we want to pursue first. We also thought the choices were interesting. What would happen on any given choice wasn’t clear cut.
Also, combat is a very cool little puzzle. The enemies aren’t pushovers. But if you pick your fights (we do not fight every opportunity we get) and make use of your synergies, it’s pretty cool to bring enemies down efficiently.
As for replayability, I think there will be quite a bit. I’d be surprised if we have seen more than 30% or so of the map once the game is over. Tom Vasel found 7 totems out of over 70 available after a 14 hours campaign. There will be tons to see and experience once we dive back in, even if we wait a few weeks before doing so. And the notes we took on the map will be very helpful.
The save mechanism is nicely thought out too. Here is everything packed at the end of the session:
The ship log records where you were and the ship’s condition when you saved. As for the characters and adventure cards, we simply need to open all the baggies from the 2 open boxes next time and we’re pretty much set to play again. Neat.
Personally, I can’t wait to dive back in and go explore more of the sights we have glimpsed.
Oh gosh, the save mechanic cracked me up. “Carefully pack everything up in this way that meticulously keeps everything perfect to set up again.” Well, yeah… if I’m gonna do that, every game has a “save mechanic.”
Also, the rule book is, I think, bad. If an Event Card offers you a Challenge, do you have to attempt the Challenge? If this is in the rules, please tell me where!
I’m talking specifically about “Sea Tower,” here. You encounter a tower in the sea; the Challenge is to explore it. Seems like something you could avoid, but I’m actually not seeing the option to not do it specified anywhere.
I beg to disagree. I think having 2 specific boxes and bags within those 2 boxes to save the game state is a good compromise for what’s a major table hog of a game.
Sure every game has a save mode when looked at like that. I sometimes take a picture and bag stuff to “save” a longer game. But given the amount of components and the fact we play on our dining room table, we appreciate the feature.
Page 12:
See last line.
Ha. My rulebook does not have that third bullet. Was one of the stretch goals “complete rulebook?”
(But also, thank you!)
It’s on the errata I listed for you higher up in the thread (see the page 12 one). That’s where I saw it when reviewing the rules today. So it’s a bit facetious of me to say it’s in the rule book.
As you aren’t a fan of the errata, you can also see the updated rule book (with errata) here:
The downside of having the first edition of a game.
And the errata I think is mostly covered in the Watch it Played video, too.
FWIW, my experience so far with this game has been really outstanding, much closer to Wendelius’s. The story is engaging as it unfolds and I have favorite crew and feel like I “know” them pretty well now.
I also really like the combat system. It’s a nice hybrid of a couple of things, but to me most closely resembles Arkham Horror LCG with the drawing of tokens. (There are half as many 1’s and 6’s in the fate/ability deck as there are 2-5s). The damage allocation is indeed somewhat akin to a puzzle game at times, but it isn’t a puzzle game that feels as…headache-y as, say Gloomhaven.
Indeed. Rodney Smith had the advantage of only releasing it last month, by which point the game was already in the hands of players and the FAQ and errata were available. He’s also very thorough when he explains rules.
That’s a good point. Gloomhaven is a constant optimisation puzzle which can feel deflating, if your heroes all become exhausted just before completing the mission. You have to constantly pay attention to your action economy.
The fact that combat in this one is card based and that you know there are fewer 1s and 6s (and Ryan Laukat suggests you can further manipulate the odds by hoarding certain cards) gives you quite a bit of agency in a more episodic puzzle. The synergies are a satisfying touch too, giving you useful bonuses.
Not played it again yet, but we are planning to play more this week and coming weekend. We really enjoyed it a lot.
And yes, I know all about splash damage rules, navigation rules, which skill checks apply when, …
That’s what I get for reading the rulebook and watching the watch it played video and reading the erratas. :)
But I’m sure I’ll still get rules wrong.
Of course, there’s a big difference between knowing the rules and having the most-applicable rule at any given moment – what that rule is changes on a second-to-second basis – front-and-center in your mind. ;)
So very true. :) Happens to me all the time. We try our best, but it’s part of the charm of boardgames.
My wife and I just finished our first campaign. I would say we must have played for 16-18 hours this weekend, for a total campaign time around 21 hours. We got so engrossed by it we were missing meal times and didn’t see the week-end fly by. And yet, as soon we finished, my wife was asking when we could play through the campaign again.
Resource management and combat were challenging. We had so many ups and down. There were times we were rich, but our ship was close to sinking (the picture below is not a spoiler as we are on the first page of the atlas):
Other times, we were scrounging for coin or any ingredient to cook a recipe. You have to know when to give up on a challenge and take the consequences. And when we got into combat, coming out on the other side without a party wipe always felt both surprising we had made it and very satisfying.
The least you can say is that the game has grown over the campaign (start and end pictures, Quite spoilery if you look in any detail).
Hour 1 vs final table presence
It went from this:
To this (not pictured: 10 totems we found and a dozen keyword cards):
The table was rather busy by the end.
I disagree with the notions that the story was anodyne or that there was no big picture. We focused our efforts on one quadrant of the map. And while the story was a lot of little vignettes (sometimes interconnected), we also encountered a couple of bigger, overarching stories. This included some pretty interesting information on what was going on in the world to help guide us in our decisions.
Our final stats were:
- Final score: 157
- Play mode: normal
- Totems found: 10 (12 located, but 2 not retrieved)
- Defeats: 0
- Quests (completed or in progress): 44 (out of 180 in base game)
- 22 adventure cards collected (out of 90 in base game)
- 8 level cards purchased (out of 24)
I don’t think this game is going to be for everyone. But if you want to dive into a world where every turn will tell a story and you will be faced with puzzles and decisions, I think it’s well worth a shot!
We have seen maybe 25% of what there is to see in the base game. I also got Tides of Ruin with the KS. But even without adding that in, there would be plenty new to see on a second campaign.
One final tip: Do not play without the errata. I think we had to correct 3 or 4 story book entries over the whole campaign. A couple had an incorrect test value. Others gave the incorrect card number for a reward. Those storybook errata aren’t really spoilers (they mainly give a text fix). Simply keep the page printed at hand and don’t look at it too closely. But when you hit a storybook entry, check if the entry number is on there.
@Wendelius @justaguy2 @triggercut @agapepilot @Don_Quixote
Bumping because I have a chance to buy Sleeping Gods used for $80, local pickup so no shipping. So – nearly a year later, thoughts?