Spirit Island - Playthrough & Review (Intermediate Difficulty)
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
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This is “Spirit Island," a board game designed by R. Eric Reuss, and published by Greater Than Games. This video includes a rules overview.
JUMP:
00:00 - Start
05:04 - Playthrough Start
01:34:36 - Review
One Pip Wonder - / @onepipwonder915
BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1...
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Email: beforeyouplaygames@gmail.com - Hry
I love this game and the design choices that were made. Wood = good; plastic = evil.
Never thought of that before...⁉️
This is unbelievable timing. I literally JUST watched the beginner video wondering if I should ask for Spirit Island for Christmas. You guys make deciding which board game to buy so much easier.
Dude, I was about to comment the same exact thing. Just watched the first vid yesterday
You guys won’t be disappointed. I’ve played it over 100 times and it is without a doubt the greatest game of all time.
That's awesome! We've been wanting to do another playthrough on the channel for a while now. 😀
@@Iamwrongbut It's up there for both of us!
@@BeforeYouPlay the game to me is like a beautiful marriage. It is complex, difficult, and the longer you go at it the better it gets.
At @1:05:18 they still damage the land (forest) for 3 so there should be blight added there
Outside that, congrats for the win. You guys did good 😁
Tip:
For rampant green. its generally better to stop the ravage than to stop a build. Its tactic is usually to stall and stall until late game where you just play majors after majors.
For thunderspeaker you actually have the option to move with your dahan if they are together with you initially before moving. So manifestation of power can easily deal 5 20 50 or 70 damage on a turn 😁
Right, but they should have also started with 1 extra blight on the blight card to start with per the errata (and the presense there was lost anyway) so I don't think it would impact that turn at all. Still watching for the first time, so maybe it would have made an impact later on.
My most played and number 1 favorite game. Great vid. Love that you amp’ed the difficulty.
You missed the errata issued by Eric Reuss about the extra blight on the blight card. In a two spirit game there should be 5 blight on the card. But that just made the game potentially more difficult. Great work.
Yeah we totally didn't know there was an errata until we read through the comments. Thanks for the heads up!
@@BeforeYouPlayyeah - they’ve folded the errata into the instructions of the expansions now.
Small note, but unless the card says otherwise removed blight does go back to the card.
Oh really?!?! 😗
@@BeforeYouPlay yup, otherwise the game would be really really hard for spirits that rely on blight placement and removal.
Yes otherwise removing blight is not really that strong.
I like removing blight even tho I haven’t yet 😮
Thanks for another wonderful playthrough! You two are a joy to watch and genuinely capture the excitement and game arc of every game you showcase. Can't wait to see the new table in the playthroughs soon too. XD
I’ve rediscovered a love for board games in 2021 I haven’t had since I was a kid, so much I missed out on, I love finding new stuff to play x
Aww that's so great to hear! So many great titles for you to discover Maria!
I am SO EXCITED to dive into Spirit Island and these videos make it so much more accessible! Thanks for these!
Your channel is such a goldmine of great playthroughs!
I love the way you talk through everything that's going on, makes it really easy to follow even if I have not played the game myself
Wow, thank you! We really appreciate all the support!
Spirit island was the second board game I ever bought. A spontaneous buy based on the cover, blurb and 5 star rating. But it was too much for my husband I to figure out as total newbies and we got tired of losing, so it sat on the shelf for a long time. After revisiting it with more experience, it is one of my absolute favorite games, it's just so satisfying when you do win. I've been waiting for Jagged Earth to be back in stock for ages now and it finally did, just ordered it and can't wait to explore the new spirits.
So happy to see you two progressing with Spirit Island!
To answer your question, it is possible to get a Terror Level I victory, but it has to be your main goal from the beginning (and may require some sub-optimal play). The key is stopping the invaders' Build actions. Every building they build is a building you have to destroy... which generates fear... which pushes you closer to Terror Level II. You have to go out of your way to play a low-fear game or you'll hit TL2 without trying to. Adversaries make it tougher to pull off a TL1 win because, as you've seen, they add towns with their escalation events. If you want to go after a TL1 victory, I would recommend playing River Surges in Sunlight in a 1-spirit game against no adversary.
Just started playing this game. I really enjoyed watching your combos to generate 2x8 fear in the late game!
Thanks for the video! ☺️
I've had this game for a while but y'all inspired me to try out some of the higher level difficulty. It was fun. 🤓
I have 100+ plays and it still amazes me (and I don't even have the expansions, they were not released here in Brazil, sadly).
I hope they eventually can get to you!!
Grok Games announced they'll be releasing both expansions here, as well as promos, early next year!
Looking forward to you two playing more of this! Bought the base after watching the playground!
I had a lot of fun watching this. Thanks!
So excited you guys are back to my favorite game! I highly recommend the expansions too!
Branch and claw is almost a must. The events adds so much to the game.
Man oh man are we excited to get everything this game has to offer! 👍
Another great playthru/teach. Love what you are doing and this format. This particular video has really reinvigorated my love for this game. The game company will be happy to know that it encouraged me to pick up the second expansion, which I can't wait to bring to the table next month. (yeah, covid 😞).
I've mentioned it before but I think your videos could really benefit from a green screen. It would allow you to add card closeups easily. I'm not sure how technically difficult it would be but I'm pretty sure Rhado would give you some advice - it works really well for his videos.
Anyway, I will spread the word - I don't think your subscriber numbers do you justice; this is a fantastic channel for game teaches and playthroughs. Well done!!
Great playthrough - love seeing the ramped up version!
I can feel Naveen's pain watching Monique get all the power cards with green and blue on it! His face just said "but those are my colors...". Happens to me so often in this game!
HAHA totally!!! 😂
Thanks for these videos!
I picked up Spirit Island recently and did manage a Terror level 1 win condition! It was a long-ish game that was just pushing things around until it panned out 🤣
I was River Surges in Sunlight and it was a blighted island card + no adversaries or scenarios.
Yes! Us spirit island fans love to see people step up to a challenge! Hopefully you guys genuinely enjoyed it.
I only learned of this game 2 days ago and it's already become one of my favourites even though I haven't tried it. I love coop games, and I love asymmetric gameplay.
lol "I am so relieved. my brain is so tired"😂 Definitely can relate. But you guys crushed that! So much fun to watch too. Thanks for the shoutout!
Woot woot! Hope you've been doing well!!! 😀
@@BeforeYouPlay thanks I am! looking forward to the Holidays🎄 Love you guys!
Just watched both of these and got the game. Excited to give it a run!
That was an awesome video, I really enjoyed watching you play! You guys focus a lot more on stopping ravagin, but I find if you can prevent a build it helps you out more in the long term. Spread of rampant green is my current favourite.
It was really fun to play that Spirit! We always find ourselves behind and are terrified of the ravage lol.
Monique, Naveen!!! Thank you for your reviews and playthroughs! For Spirit Island I was very very doubtful if I should get it due to reviews of people saying it wasn't that good or too difficult, however with your video I decided to go for it and I am loving it. THANK YOU :)
Awww yay wonderful! So glad you're enjoying it!!
I’ve yet to take the training wheels off although I did use the blight card in my last play. I love that moment when all seems lost but then you hit terror III and suddenly realize you can win.
It's such a great feeling!!
I just started getting into board games and discovered your channel. I''ve been binge watching a lot of your videos lately so thank you for the great content! This game looked so fun that I just had to try it =) I'm not very good yet but I'm starting to get the hang of it haha!
Love you guys and this game! It’s my husbands favorite game ever and it’s definitely in my top 10. The expansions are top notch- add even more variability and so many fun new things. We’ve played easily over 25 times and we’ve recently been working on the difficulty level 9! Definitely requires intentional choosing of spirits that play well together. When the stars align and we meet at a convention one day haha, we’ll have to pull this one out and play an epic 4 player game!
There was a rules fix from the designer at the beginning of this year (or was it last year?).
Basically you should add 1 blight to setup (as if the card text said “add 2*N + 1 blight, where N = number of spirits in play”
It rebalances a design flaw that’s always been there
Great game and love the video/channel, so keep the content coming! I've only ever had one terror level 1 victory I recall and that was when I finally figured out heart of the wildfire, which is a brain burner of a spirit, but so good once you do, supported by rampant green also. Happy holidays!!
How did you know this game gets localised in my coutry next month?! Incredible timing (and incredible performance as usual, thanks for your amazing videos!)
👋
AWESOME!!! Hope you will have a blast!
This was so fun to watch! I couldn't help myself, I had to fire up the digital version of Spirit Island and play my own game while I was watching y'all.
That’s so awesome to hear! 👏
haha, me too man!
Great playthrough! It's a lot of fun watching you play. You should definitely try the Branch & Claw expansion. The added events and mechanics add a lot of fun to the game.
We certainly want to check it out!
I've just finished my solo play of this when I saw your playthrough in my sub feed ;). What a coincidence :D. Fantastic job guys, as always! Great game. It has very elegant and intuitive rules, but it's REALLY heavy on the strategy. And it might be too methodical for some people. After 8 plays it's a 10/10 for me ;). Can't wait to try branch & claw.
You are totally right! So much to manage and such a fun experience from start to finish. We hate the fact that we have to put the game away when we finish! 😂
Great video again. I really enjoy your vids and think Spirit Island is an awesome game.
Yes! Time to get some popcorn 🍿.
Very nice playthrough! Thank you.
There was an error at 1:02:55 when you resolved the jungle with a defend 3. The invaders did 6 damage - 3 defense = 3 damage left. So this adds 1 blight to the land (and flips the Blight card immediately because you have only 1 blight left on it). It also cause you to lose your presence on the land because of the added blight. Then you resolved the damage to the Dahan which you did correctly, but losing 1 Dahan for Thunderspeaker during ravage cost the loss of another presence in the land or adjacent land (here wetland).
However you could in the fast phase have removed 1 town from that jungle land with the innate "lead the Furious assault" which you used instead in the mountains. That would fix everything and prevent blight. I suspect that was your initial strategy, which was good because defend 3 was not enough on the jungle land, then you forgot about it ...
Spirit Island is an unbelievably well designed game. One of my favorites of all time. It also offers so much depths in form of difficulty! Glad you liked it as much as I do...
Excellent video! As a heads up, the most recent erata FAQ says to add one additional blight for balance purposes. If the card says 2 blight per player, you would have 5 blight in a 2 player games (or 9 blight in a 4 player game).
Thanks for the heads up! We had no idea before doing this video!
@@BeforeYouPlay no worries. I learned about the blight change via the Board Game Geek forums.
You guys rock!
Cheers
The expansions somehow make the game even better. Definitely my fave game, can't recommend enough.
Best game ever! Grab the expansions!!
This was a great play though. Please don't wait another year to showcase this game. Also fun to see you win, it's a tough game.
Great job! I couldn’t find the link to your previous videos though, but I found it by search anyway :)
Haha, I think we forgot to add it to the little "i" in the corner of the video. :-)
My partner and I love your work and always take your opinions into consideration whenever pursuing new games! At 1:29:28, I think Monique ignored the reach/range for the second innate power. That’s one of the reasons that you may find useful moving your presence alongside your dahan. What works for me regarding Thunderspeaker is always concentrating dahan and presence and taking advantage of manifestation of power and glory, so just hoarding and making sure no one’s left behind. Greetings from Brazil!
Good job you guys, @1:08:09 thunderspeaker could've moved the presence from the jungle to the wetlands to increase the damage made by the manifestation of power and glory from 3 to 6.
Great playthough, keep it up!!
Greetings from Argentina : )
GGs that was a really good playthrough!
Thanks a ton!
@@BeforeYouPlay you're welcome! It made me want to try Thunderspeaker, that looked like a VERY fun and unique way to play!
One of my favourite games, for sure!
It's just so freakin' good!
Some of the more aggressive spirits can win at terror level 1. It requires a little luck, low player count, and generally an adversary that is low difficulty. The high difficulty ones have more staying power.
Part of the reason this is possible is bc they don't explore of there are no buildings or ocean adjacent. So you can prevent them from ever getting deep into your board and win quick.
I did manage to completely clear the board once at Fear Level II with Ocean's Hungry Grasp and Thunderspeaker. I was just trying to clear out towns and cities, but incidentally cleared out all explorers too thanks to Ocean's ability to clean up the coastal regions.
Love this game, it's probably my favourite along with A Feast for Odin.
The island returns!
Awesome playthrough, the production quality on these is fantastic. Am I mistaken or are all the cards in your game sleeved? I'm wondering what sleeves you used and what other accessories you uses for this game if any? We just got through our first playthrough of this game and want to take care of it because we can tell we're going to be playing it a lot :)
Always something to do!
Waiting for that advanced playthrough!
Really enjoy watching you two play games! You carry forward the excitement of the game to us, the viewers :) I really want Spirit Island and to play it too! You guys should do a playthrough of Arkham Horror: The Card Game! Its a very fun game, and it would be pretty interesting to watch you two play it. And I think you guys would really enjoy it as well.
So excited to watch this! Hope you enjoyed PAXU!
"I do need a bigger Deck" .....me too, Monique..... Me too.....
Love your videos. Please put a game with jagged earth components 😊
"Every time we play it gets better and better."
I'm one of the people who can beat Difficulty 10 adversaries. It's not guaranteed (I need some luck with Major Powers), but I think I"m above 50/50 win rate. I ALSO kind of disliked this game when I first played. I lost my first few games.
This game does get better and better, as you think more deeply and make more connections and learn to coordinate growing your Spirit and managing short-term and long-term goals. You are only at the beginning of your journey with this game, and you will surprise yourselves as you get better and better! The diversity of the Spirits is also great. And the expansions make this game even greater!
(Btw, If you haven't flipped the Blight card, you're ready to increase the Difficulty!)
I totally would watch MANY future plays by you guys and hear your thoughts on the other spirits (there are 24!), adversaries, expansions, and scenarios!! Get Branch & Claw first - in fact, it was the *intended* original design to include the tokens and Events that come with it. The publisher asked the designer to split the design in two so that there would be a base game and an expansion.
1:36:30 wait until you start adding branch and claw and even more so jagged earth - more depth and stuff to explore, jagged earth really adds a lot
+1 vote for an expansions video please!
Hopefully it won't be in another year!! lol
Rampant Green is probably the best synergy spirit to go with nearly any other spirit of the game. They are both great spirits to play with. I think winning with terror level 1 would be a lot more feasible with certain spirits combined at a low difficulty level. This year I've been playing with Branch and Claw and just in the past month broke into Jagged Earth + the two promo packs. I certainly love the Events both of those expansions bring. I'd say Branch and Claw is sort of just an intro to Jagged Earth. It adds most of the big new ideas, but a bit less of the overall content and lower complexity. Jagged Earth is like doubling the game variability and increases some on complexity not by new rules (only one smaller add relative to Branch and Claw), but just more intricate spirits / events / etc. It takes the game I already loved up to this greatness level I don't expect will be matched for years to come.
There is a major power letting you sink an islandboard. With that i have managed to do a complete clear (by sinking both islands). It works because you always check for victory first.
good video thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great videos guys! Just started playing Spirit Island with my wife as well at its base core easy difficulty. The first game was...overwhelming (despite knowing all the rules ahead of time after watching many videos). The 2nd game we won and started to get an idea for the gameplay strategy required. However, at this stage I cannot imagine the game being played at a higher difficulty. Hopefully we just get better the more we play.
Random Question! How do you store your cards in the box with the card protectors adding more thickness to the stack of cards; overflowing out of the insert.
Just before 1:05 when the invaders ravage they deal 3 damage above the block. This is in the jungle (land #8) on board A. That damage is done to both the Dahan and the land simultaneously. That causes the land to blight unless I missed some other effect in play. The Dahan do not soak up damage unfortunately.
Shortly after this, when the coast is about to ravage, they speak about sacrificing Dahan but not needing to worry about a blight. Even though they are able to remove an explorer with the fear card to prevent this, the logic they were using in the discussion makes it seem like they think Dahan block damage from reaching the land.
It is true that there should have been blight added, but as Barak Gordon pointed out, there has been an errata issued that would have placed an additional blight token on the blight card during setup. So they should have added a blight, but there should have been an extra one to "spend," meaning that the island would have remained healthy and nothing else would have changed in the playthrough. In my book, this victory still stands!
It's still good to point this out so they don't continue playing with this houserule, especially if they're thinking about going into higher difficulties building on flawed strategies.
@@benjamingoldstein7583 It is not exactly true that nothing would have changed, however. Adding the blight would have destroyed Thunderspeaker's presence in the land, and then in addition Monique would have needed to removed another presence up to distance 1 because of Sworn to Victory. So they forgot to remove a second presence.
I was watching this awesome video just yesterday and this evening decided to do a basic solo play with Lightning’s Swift Strike. I killed the last of the invaders right before having enough fear to get to Terror Level 2, so it’s possible!
Whaaat! That's awesome. Thank you for letting us know because up to now we still thought it impossible haha. Great job
This is my first boardgame (outside of monopoly haha) ever and I love it so much :D
Way to jump into the deep end, lol. But glad you are enjoying it, welcome to the hobby :D
@@spacemonkeyentertainment6413 surprisingly, I didn't think the game was too hard to learn. Probably cause I play D&D and MTG haha
I have managed once to clear the board of everything, I was on fear level 2 but managed to clear the board while I completed the goal of fear level 2.
You need to try Ocean Spirit. The feeling is awesome !
I've had a lot of fun playing this game, but my issue with it is that it always ends the same way - reach fear level 3 and win instantly.
I'll admit that I didn't ever give it the chance it deserved because the highest difficulty I played was Level 3, but I just found it very anticlimactic.
The theme is amazing though, and it's a lot of fun building the spirit engine.
I hope you get a chance to play with Events some time. Eric created SI with Events, but GTG felt Events added too much complexity for the base game, so removed them and put them into the expansion (Branch & Claw). Some people hate them, but it is the way SI was originally intended to be played.
That's great to hear, we are definitely open to trying pretty much anything related to Spirit Island lol!
1:04:47
Am I correct in thinking they should have gained a blight? 6 damage - 3 defend.
1:31:50 Also should have paid for Paralyzing Freight again from using Powerstorm.
correct about the blight
the card had already been paid for twice
In growth phase, when you choose the middle one on the green spirit, you put down a presense, you can play one more card that turn, but you get a power card too right?
No, that is a presence placement and an extra card play for that turn.
As to winning at terror level 1. It is possible with Thunderspeaker and wildfire. I did it a lot of times especially at vanilla (low level) difficulty
I think it might also be possible with sharp fangs, but i havent tried that.
Great game! Would love to see you take on the Event deck and token variant that comes with expansions, also Blight always goes back on the Blight card unless specifically directed to go to the general pool, plus as others have noted you missed the "Eric Loves You"+1 Blight. The FAQ, btw, is filled with important clarifications. Also, you needed to repay 4 energy for the repeated Paralyzing Fright (but it did not matter!), and yeah this game is sooooooo good and there is a LOT of game in just the core set, its amazing. I have about 70 games in the bank (one and two players) and I managed a (solo) Terror level 1 victory once so it is possible, but you need a truck of luck.
Pretty sure Paralyzing Freight was paid for twice! I think the only "mistake" was the blight they forgot to add around 1:04
@@R.-C. Maybe I have missed them paying for it?
God, SI is such a great game.
The blight is put back onto the card when you remove it from the land you did put it into the box.
Dang that’s an early upload. Do you guys set it up overnight or something?
Thanks for the video. This is such an amazing game, easily one of my favourites. Oh, you recommended a channel at the start ('One click wonder'?). Could you please post a link to that channel, I wasn't able to find it and I'd like to follow your recommendation. Thanks in advance!
One pip wonder, czcams.com/play/PLDjWWPYGEuksgZhclv8nCfeSVOsKboV9R.html
@@deborahpate3238 Thanks Deborah!
This is a great coop game, a little more complex than it should be but still amazing.
This is my third favorite puzzle-strategy coop game. I still think Pandemic with expansions and Ghost Stories are a bit better games in the genre, maybe because they are simpler and still very strategic and engaging.
Something I noted:
As per latest errata blight at the start of the game on the blight card should be 2 per player + 1 (so, it will be 5 in a two player game). Also, removed blight does goes to the blight card unless the effects that removes it says otherwise.
Nice choices I think these 2 spirits are strong
Should the jungle at 1:05:07 blight also since it took 3 damage?
That’s a great question! We think you might be right, since the invaders did attack for 3. (If anyone else knows, please let us know with a response to this comment thread).
@@BeforeYouPlay Yes it would get blighted, all damage from the invaders is dealt simultaneously to the Dahan and the land.
@@BeforeYouPlay Yeap should be a blight there
@@BeforeYouPlay But it compensates with the additional blight on the blight card you should have started the game with. (2 per player + 1).
i totally love the theme and spirits of the game i m kind of worried it will blast my mind the more advanced games i ve played are Ecos, terra mystica, everdell and galaxy trucker
do you think i d be fine playing this game?
Rule correction: When you are in the Build Phase at the start of the game you need to have placed a city on Mountain region #7 because that region had more towns than cities.
Sweet ☺️ one of my favourite board games of all time. I've been playing it with coloured glass spirit tokens :)
That's so cool! Where did you find them?
@@BeforeYouPlay "Chessex glass gaming stones" 🙂
Spirit Island is probably the best co-op and definitely my top 3. Just excellent, top to bottom. Great playthrough!
What type of sleeves do you use?
There is an errata to starting blight. It’s 2 blight per player + 1. So you should of started with 5 blights.
what card sleeves do you use?
Guys have you played Robibson crusoe?? Most Ameri style, but A nice coop one
Will there be an advanced difficulty playthrough video?
I'm pretty sure winning at Terror level 1 is near-impossible, simply because in the process of clearing the board of all invaders you will be destroying towns and cities which will get you to level 2. I have won at Terror level 2 though! More than once, actually, though I'm not sure if one of those counts (I was playing the ocean spirit with the scenario that has invaders only on the coast... needless to say that was an easier game than usual). Terror level 3 is by far the most common, though, in my experience.
If its a vanilla game. Winning at terror level 1 with wildfire, and thunderspeaker is really easy.
I hear so much about this game and would like to play it, but it just looks so convoluted and complicated even after watching two playthroughs. I think I would need an experienced person to teach me the game in order to "grok" it. After that, I could decide if I like it enough to buy it or not.
I just noticed at the 29 minute mark, when you flipped what should have been your first level 2 explorer card, it was actually a level 3. Maybe I missed something with the adversary? Or maybe this was just a mistake
They said at 3:00 that one of the setup conditions for the adversary was to put the level 3 card there.
@13:30, how is able to play two cards when he only has the 1 card slot unlocked from the 2nd row of his presence?
Nevermind, I forgot the middle growth option gives +1 card
We played this one a lot at the beginning of the year with my wife. After beating all adversaries at level 6, we did a break. Last week we went back to it and I realized that that there are some rules' details that I am not sure about. I started watching your video and realized that you just did a beginner setup and heard the promise that you are going to make a more advanced setup... And here we go. What a timing.