Slight rules clarification on Risk Strike, when, as the attacker, you lose an attack, the continent cards go into the center of the game area, where they can be drawn from like one of the decks. This is actually one of the more clever things in the game because it has the feeling of leaving an area vacant by invading, and often you can reclaim your cards, but it comes at the cost of building up elsewhere. Others can take those cards during their draw step, but it sometimes just isn't worth removing focus from your current plans.
I think it deserves a better rating if Tom had gotten the rules right. Also playing troops on battles you're not directly involved in (3+ players) makes for some much more interesting strategy.
Haven't played Dawn of Ulos yet, as an Acquire nut it's high on my radar. It has the fantasy theming of Thunderwerks Roll Player universe. It has that theme because that's who made the game. I think the concept, of playing powerbrokers and kingmakers is awesome, but also agree that an ideal theme is something more realpolitik than fantasy ... Europe in the Age of Enlightenment, China's Warring States period, feuding lords in a feudal kingdom, warring empires in the Bronze Age Near East, etc.
I personally love Where's My Ride! I feel like the limited usage of the emojis forces the players to think outside the box and make some creative leaps of logic they otherwise normally wouldn't. I originally went into it with the opposite expectations Tom did where I wasn't expecting much and the theme didn't excite me, but I ended up really enjoying it and wanted to keep playing. There's an official mod of the game you can play on Tabletop Simulator that I recommend giving a spin if you're unsure if it's for you.
They're not even consistent! 1:39, 2 and 3 say 'lenght', 4 and 6 say 'length'. I'm honestly impressed that made it into the game. Like. a single card saying 'lenght' is understandable, but a lot of them? I genuinely don't know how that happens. Surely someone would have noticed...
I posted about this on BGG, and got this response: You are correct. "Length" has been misspelled as "Lenght" in several instances. We have been three persons working on the 360 questions in the game. We all have English as our second language, but that is not an excuse, and this is something we should have discovered and corrected. I will definitely fix this for future print runs, so thank you for pointing it out!
Wow, not the reaction to Dawn of Ulos I expected. That game has become a gem in my group. Mainly because it's a more complex, crunchy, and interesting version of Acquire. And in regards to the theming, I don't think it's completely detached from things, especially when two factions war? Or how they amass power.
I agree, I think this is the one where he "missed the mark" however, at the same time, while I really like it, it has weirdly fallen flat with everyone I've played with. I think the sticking point is that people are really hard on wanting it to be vanilla Acquire, which I don't understand. Acquire is probably the most boring of all stock games, with very little serious player interaction in the core game. I'd rather be playing this, Imperial, Irish Gauge, Magnate: TFC, or any of numerous other games in a similar vein that is more interesting. A second problem is that a *LOT* of people, Tom excluded here of course, hear "Fantasy" or hear anything about the Ulos lore, and then just immediately dismiss it, because a stock game should only be about the real world with real world economics or whatever, and subsequently use that as an excuse to not pay attention to the rules or game.
Yeah, I like the game too. I feel like describing it as fantasy Acquire (to players already familiar with Acquire) works just fine and people can grok it. Yes, we refer to the influence as coins/dollars/money, and we also called the cards shares, but that didn't spoil our enjoyment of the game. Tom talked about the factions as if they belonged to one player (I know he doesn't think the rules are actually that way, just that it seemed his two games went that way). That's not the right way you should be playing DoU, and the same goes for Acquire. You're supposed to try to align your interest with another opponent or two and try to get them to do work that benefits you and recognize/predict which factions are going to rise
A couple of things left out by @thedicetower that make Risk Strike more interesting then Tom led on. 1. Losing your last card as an attacker means it becomes available for anyone to take in their card draws. Makes the decision on whether or not to continue the attack more interesting. 2. The game really shines at 3+ players because you can play troops on battles you're not the attacker or defender on. It's a simple rule, but really adds some depth. Temporary alliances and backstabbing suddenly become part of the game. It's better than a 6.5 :)
I really like dawn of ulos. Now… I agree with you about the math on the stock board. That is lacking. If there was more incentive to buy stock near the end and then attack with those cards, it would go from really like to love.
I see what you mean about Where's My Ride. I'm wondering if it can be solved by, instead of drawing random emojis, the driver just has all the emojis in their toolkit, but they just use each of them once?
Randomly saw Risk Strike at Walmart and bought it on a whim. It’s cool… wasn’t my parent’s favorite. One thing, if a defender wins a battle over a country card I think it gets sent to the middle draw pile that others can pick from (instead of the defender taking your country card.
Dear Tom - This continues to be my favorite thing that Dice Tower does, because it is so succinct. I know you mainly do games you don’t like here and games not getting reviewed by a larger group of DT reviewers - can you mix in some games you like as well? Even if you are reviewing them in other videos? In my opinion (and please let me know if I’m wrong), but since the death of the podcast, DT recently lacks quick reviews, where one can get a small burst of compact info and opinion on specific games, especially games they like. I don’t have time to watch reviews that are 30-60 minutes long. Even 20 mins is tough. I know there are quick reviews built into top 10 lists, but it’s hard to seek out a quick review of a specific game. On that note, I’d also beg you to rehash some of the most important top 10 lists. I know you try to challenge yourself with top 10s that are very esoteric or unusual, but there are certain topics that are so so useful and need updating. Some id suggest are top 10s around specific mechanisms, top 10s for specific player counts, and top 10s for specific themes. Some new ideas - top 10s for specific game lengths, top 10s for different game complexity levels. And one other request - I enjoy the humor in the group videos but for some viewers, brevity is of great value. The least interesting and most annoying content is shoutouts to specific viewers, I know this generates money to make the videos, but really extends the video length in an uninteresting way that often leads to me not finishing the video.
Well, we are redoing the top tens, so you'll see stuff you like. Have you checked out Dice Tower Encore? That has the short videos you might want. And who says the podcast is dead? Tune in Tuesday.
Howdy have you ever played BattleShip Royale? I cant find any reviews of this game, but i played it for the first time tonight and it was pretty fun. Also Thankyou for all of these game reviews i enjoy them ^-^ I cant find any reviews of this version of battleship and wanted to ask if you could do a review on it?
We really enjoy Zoo King, but our 8yr daughter loves it especially playing the bad events on others she mean. The only real negative i have is the income is very tight and hard to come by late game.
FWIW, Lord of the Rings Risk, 2040AD, Risk Legacy, etc. are ALL "decent", because they have an end-state other than one player beat down all the other players.
Where's My Ride seems like a rare achievement where the concept sounds uninspired, the name is random, the theme is tacked on, the components look tacky, the rules sound weird, and the gameplay sucks as much as you expect it to. A clean sweep... off the table, that is.
Anyone notice the typo on the word ‘length’ on the How Dare You cards? Shoddy proof reading!
Absolutely love this format. Can you guys please address the audio for the screen wipe? Seems needlessly loud and distorted.
I really like Dawn of Ulos. I was a big fan of Aquire back in the day and this just seems like a more fun version of it.
In How Dare You, do they have the question, "How do you spell Lenght correctly?"
Slight rules clarification on Risk Strike, when, as the attacker, you lose an attack, the continent cards go into the center of the game area, where they can be drawn from like one of the decks. This is actually one of the more clever things in the game because it has the feeling of leaving an area vacant by invading, and often you can reclaim your cards, but it comes at the cost of building up elsewhere. Others can take those cards during their draw step, but it sometimes just isn't worth removing focus from your current plans.
I think it deserves a better rating if Tom had gotten the rules right. Also playing troops on battles you're not directly involved in (3+ players) makes for some much more interesting strategy.
Haven't played Dawn of Ulos yet, as an Acquire nut it's high on my radar. It has the fantasy theming of Thunderwerks Roll Player universe. It has that theme because that's who made the game. I think the concept, of playing powerbrokers and kingmakers is awesome, but also agree that an ideal theme is something more realpolitik than fantasy ... Europe in the Age of Enlightenment, China's Warring States period, feuding lords in a feudal kingdom, warring empires in the Bronze Age Near East, etc.
I personally love Where's My Ride! I feel like the limited usage of the emojis forces the players to think outside the box and make some creative leaps of logic they otherwise normally wouldn't. I originally went into it with the opposite expectations Tom did where I wasn't expecting much and the theme didn't excite me, but I ended up really enjoying it and wanted to keep playing. There's an official mod of the game you can play on Tabletop Simulator that I recommend giving a spin if you're unsure if it's for you.
Really enjoyed Dawn of Ulos. I had no idea if I'd even like at all, but turns out it's a really good game!
5:10 third hand! 😨
At least they're consistent in misspelling length (How Dare You)
ha, saw that too
They're not even consistent! 1:39, 2 and 3 say 'lenght', 4 and 6 say 'length'.
I'm honestly impressed that made it into the game. Like. a single card saying 'lenght' is understandable, but a lot of them? I genuinely don't know how that happens. Surely someone would have noticed...
It hurts my brain seeing it
I posted about this on BGG, and got this response:
You are correct. "Length" has been misspelled as "Lenght" in several instances. We have been three persons working on the 360 questions in the game. We all have English as our second language, but that is not an excuse, and this is something we should have discovered and corrected. I will definitely fix this for future print runs, so thank you for pointing it out!
Wow, not the reaction to Dawn of Ulos I expected. That game has become a gem in my group. Mainly because it's a more complex, crunchy, and interesting version of Acquire. And in regards to the theming, I don't think it's completely detached from things, especially when two factions war? Or how they amass power.
I agree, I think this is the one where he "missed the mark" however, at the same time, while I really like it, it has weirdly fallen flat with everyone I've played with.
I think the sticking point is that people are really hard on wanting it to be vanilla Acquire, which I don't understand. Acquire is probably the most boring of all stock games, with very little serious player interaction in the core game. I'd rather be playing this, Imperial, Irish Gauge, Magnate: TFC, or any of numerous other games in a similar vein that is more interesting.
A second problem is that a *LOT* of people, Tom excluded here of course, hear "Fantasy" or hear anything about the Ulos lore, and then just immediately dismiss it, because a stock game should only be about the real world with real world economics or whatever, and subsequently use that as an excuse to not pay attention to the rules or game.
Yeah, I like the game too. I feel like describing it as fantasy Acquire (to players already familiar with Acquire) works just fine and people can grok it. Yes, we refer to the influence as coins/dollars/money, and we also called the cards shares, but that didn't spoil our enjoyment of the game.
Tom talked about the factions as if they belonged to one player (I know he doesn't think the rules are actually that way, just that it seemed his two games went that way). That's not the right way you should be playing DoU, and the same goes for Acquire. You're supposed to try to align your interest with another opponent or two and try to get them to do work that benefits you and recognize/predict which factions are going to rise
And I agree with Tom it didn’t go over very well with our group.
Cool story. Especially with that 'And' in there, making it dismissive and everything!@@josephmenchey2871
A couple of things left out by @thedicetower that make Risk Strike more interesting then Tom led on.
1. Losing your last card as an attacker means it becomes available for anyone to take in their card draws. Makes the decision on whether or not to continue the attack more interesting.
2. The game really shines at 3+ players because you can play troops on battles you're not the attacker or defender on. It's a simple rule, but really adds some depth. Temporary alliances and backstabbing suddenly become part of the game.
It's better than a 6.5 :)
I really like dawn of ulos. Now… I agree with you about the math on the stock board. That is lacking. If there was more incentive to buy stock near the end and then attack with those cards, it would go from really like to love.
Just saw Risk Strike at a Target here in the US and was curious about it, thanks!
Risk Strike is genius. I love it for nostalgia and for a fun, super easy conflict game.
I see what you mean about Where's My Ride. I'm wondering if it can be solved by, instead of drawing random emojis, the driver just has all the emojis in their toolkit, but they just use each of them once?
Or maybe just pick a specific set of emojis to use every round?
Zoo king was definitely my favorite! People have been telling me on Facebook to try it out. I just haven’t gotten around to buying it yet.
Dawn of Ulos is Stephenson's Rocket in Fantasy theme.
Thanks for the great reviews
Randomly saw Risk Strike at Walmart and bought it on a whim. It’s cool… wasn’t my parent’s favorite. One thing, if a defender wins a battle over a country card I think it gets sent to the middle draw pile that others can pick from (instead of the defender taking your country card.
In How Dare You, do they have the question, "How many candies are in this jar?"
It's really telling when the first card we see from the "How dare you game," first line "Lenght" is mispelled.
Beaver creek doesn't seem to exist in the UK.. 😢
Dear Tom - This continues to be my favorite thing that Dice Tower does, because it is so succinct. I know you mainly do games you don’t like here and games not getting reviewed by a larger group of DT reviewers - can you mix in some games you like as well? Even if you are reviewing them in other videos? In my opinion (and please let me know if I’m wrong), but since the death of the podcast, DT recently lacks quick reviews, where one can get a small burst of compact info and opinion on specific games, especially games they like. I don’t have time to watch reviews that are 30-60 minutes long. Even 20 mins is tough. I know there are quick reviews built into top 10 lists, but it’s hard to seek out a quick review of a specific game. On that note, I’d also beg you to rehash some of the most important top 10 lists. I know you try to challenge yourself with top 10s that are very esoteric or unusual, but there are certain topics that are so so useful and need updating. Some id suggest are top 10s around specific mechanisms, top 10s for specific player counts, and top 10s for specific themes. Some new ideas - top 10s for specific game lengths, top 10s for different game complexity levels. And one other request - I enjoy the humor in the group videos but for some viewers, brevity is of great value. The least interesting and most annoying content is shoutouts to specific viewers, I know this generates money to make the videos, but really extends the video length in an uninteresting way that often leads to me not finishing the video.
Well, we are redoing the top tens, so you'll see stuff you like. Have you checked out Dice Tower Encore? That has the short videos you might want. And who says the podcast is dead? Tune in Tuesday.
@@thedicetower thank you for turning me onto DT Encore, and look forward to the new Top 10s!
Howdy have you ever played BattleShip Royale? I cant find any reviews of this game, but i played it for the first time tonight and it was pretty fun.
Also Thankyou for all of these game reviews i enjoy them ^-^
I cant find any reviews of this version of battleship and wanted to ask if you could do a review on it?
Dippin' Dots? That's the ice cream of the future!
The future is now.
Gin Crafters seems a little dry 😋
We really enjoy Zoo King, but our 8yr daughter loves it especially playing the bad events on others she mean. The only real negative i have is the income is very tight and hard to come by late game.
The Flash rescuing babies Funko Pop!! ❤😂❤😂
Is there a way to track the shuffled in Rewards in Zoo King? Or is memorization part of the game?
All 10 events are used in every game. Back page of the rulebook shows what they are.
@@TheClyd3Mangreat! Thanks for clarifying.
I think the roll player game reminds me more of Tigris and Euphrates. It that just me?
I bounced off of Dawn of Ulos hard. Glad for those that enjoy it but really just didn’t work for most of our group
Dude. They spelled it like “Lenght” on multiple cards??
FWIW, Lord of the Rings Risk, 2040AD, Risk Legacy, etc. are ALL "decent", because they have an end-state other than one player beat down all the other players.
Where's My Ride seems like a rare achievement where the concept sounds uninspired, the name is random, the theme is tacked on, the components look tacky, the rules sound weird, and the gameplay sucks as much as you expect it to. A clean sweep... off the table, that is.
*pew pew pew*
Wooha