For me, Radlands solves the problems I have with CCGs. Most importantly: the deck construction part is fun when you spend time preparing the best deck you can (even if it’s just from a bunch of random cards you have, not a *really* good deck), but when you have built a relatively good deck, then you will most likely just annihilate a player who has a worse one, so the gameplay comes down to "who has a better deck" rather than "who makes better decisions". I know, I could technically get a set of preconstructed decks which will be fairly balanced, but then I would feel like I am missing an important part of the experience. I prefer to have a complete gaming experience in a box, which I can then explore - and Radlands does give me this. But I get it that for someone who actually does like CCGs, Radlands might not be the best choice. Maybe that’s the crux of it: Radlands is a game for people who like the idea of a CCG, but would not want to actually play one.

I solved the camp draft by changing how we draft the cards. First we determine who's going first in the game. Reveal 9 camps: 1st player picks 1 camp 2nd player picks 2 camps 1st player picks 2 camps 2nd player picks 1 camp. So 1-2-2-1. This allows both players to see the camp selection and decide their hand size based off what their opponents are picking. My biggest issue was the game was playing it incorrectly several times because there is ONLY a single sentance several pages into the rulebook that states first player gets a single water for their first turn. Which missing that rule pretty much caused first player to win every single game....which left a sour taste in our mouth for quite some time. Once we actually read the rules and played it correctly, we felt that the swingyness of the game to be more fun. Just nice and quick to teach, and it's great to be able to knock out a best of 3 set within an hour. I can only hope there's more expansions to add more depth...however for it's current state of the game, fully enjoy it's short and sweet without being too deep.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

yep, the 1 water for the starting player is definitely a good implementation here. Really like your camp draft solution! Pretty cool stuff, I'll see if I can try it in the future -Ashton

@tomlikeabomb6706

10 ай бұрын

I made the same mistake with not restricting the first player to 1 water on their first turn.

@raphajacob

3 ай бұрын

The Game Designer has stated that expansions are not coming but that they may release additional camps.

Really cool review. We are at opposite sides of the table but I understand your points. For me radlands is a 9/10. I don't have patience anymore for MTG, but I love the constant tension at the table that radlands brings. And a player has always a fighting chance, despite being hammered by the opponent all the time🤣. I felt the game very balanced and it's accessibility is a plus (for me)! The initial camp selection is what defines the strategy for the rest of the game making it crucial to win. I have a blast with this game all the time! Btw, you guys rock ! Great videos. Really enjoy your content ;)

@bwah9481

2 жыл бұрын

I agree. Still enjoyed the review though.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

awesome to hear! Thank you for sharing your side of it, I actually think some life circumstances in the future would make me personally appreciate this game more, like having less time namely bahaha. Cheers! -Ashton

@mariosoueidy4293

2 жыл бұрын

I agree bro 9/10..i don't agree with his cons arguments...it is well balanced..thats why the replayvalue is high and its a quick game..but nice clear review :)

I'm personally a Star Realms nerd, but I run into the problem that I can't play it with any of my friends because the skill ceiling is too damn high - I annihilate them in a few turns, and that's no fun for anyone. I didn't get to think about strategy over the long term, and they didn't get to participate hardly at all. Radlands has enough randomness and ability to have crazy camp synergies right out of the gate that I feel like newbies always have a chance to come up with a clever way to beat me, which is important to me. My fiancee once used Parachute Camp + Water Silo + an expensive brute to completely destroy one of my camps on her first full turn, and it kept me on the back foot for most of the game. She earned it because it was a smart play, and she didn't need practice with the system to have seen it, just intelligence. Which is what it comes down to - I value when practice with a system makes you better over time, but I also sometimes hate it, because practice takes time and familiarity, and sometimes I want to play with any normal uninitiated person. I certainly couldn't do that with Star Realms, or Netrunner, or most duelers. But I can do it with Radlands.

What a harsh review for what is at heart a simple 30m duelling game that solves what I think is the problem with Magic for most gamers, simple setup and variability without having to deck build or buy a ton of cards, there's literally nothing else that hits that exact spot with the variability. It's possibly not really fair to compare Radlands to TCGs in general, if you prefer TCG's then you just prefer TCG's - it's like complaining that Azul doesn't have any deck building before you get to play. Its quite an over simplification to say - "I put a dude out and he gets injured", that is not a fair statement really as only noobs do that. There are so many combos and moments where you can stack a turn despite the 3/4 water limit - you don't have to spend all the cards in your hand right and you can wait to combo your better cards rather than play them straight away. Also there are so many cards that balances uneven board so the idea of no comeback or turnaround is not true either... I do wonder how you guys play, do you simply just draw a Sniper / general and literally play it straight away and then get annoyed your opponent damages it? From the way you say the game plays "itself", that certainly sounds like it to me as due to global effect cards/event/lack of cover timing is massive and often an agonising decision.

@rootsoflootsrootsofloots4547

2 жыл бұрын

Well star realms (and other x realms like it) is the other game that fills the magic hole but with simple setup and high variability

@rootsoflootsrootsofloots4547

2 жыл бұрын

Though there is deck building but It's quite basic

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

I disagree with the TCG simple setup point because it's possible to just buy starter decks or draft sets and hop in extremely quickly without needing heavy deck building or having tons of cards. There's plenty of casual players who don't keep up with TCG's and just play with whatever random cards they got. In our case, we don't keep up with yugioh/magic and just mess around with mishmashes of cards from different eras and it's been super easy getting newcomers to play. In the case of Radlands playing cards as they're drawn, obviously there are times you should hold like if you have a 0 timer event or a water junk that enables a later tempo swing, but the problem is that generally because the game is so tempo driven not playing cards can quickly death spiral you if the board state is at parity. Having more dudes out even only as meat shields will protect other dudes/camps, meaning that it's more likely you'll be able to spend water on people's abilities, which are the strongest effects in the game from a tempo standpoint. What ends up happening is that unless you have an explosive turn or mass removal prepped down the line (which you can't plan around because no deck building), you will quickly lose the game if you fall behind on board as your opponent compounds small advantages on top of each other simply because they were spamming dudes out and can spend their 3 water doing much stronger effects than you could've from saving cards. -Daniel

@simonmtkwong

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shelfside Thanks for the reply - that is so interesting how you view the game; I think the big turning points are based around your A/S-tier cards (either high power or high combo potential) and given that every player will draw say 8-10 of these every game, if player A is willing to deploy say Sniper/Muse/Mutant/Mimic/Rescue Team with no protection / or even just an injured person or punk (1 hit meat shields aren't reliable) and player B will at least wait "just a little bit" to protect them with another full health minion, I think B will win in the long run. Yes tempo is important but the odds are usually quite fair in how many great cards each players gets so that is another important resource apart from just power economy; I'm not talking about waiting the whole game, but sometimes sacrificing camp health for the NEXT turn deploy is the better long term thing to do and that is an agonising decision. The trouble with TCGs is that game on game, they are far more samey unless you deck build which is time consuming - playing the same deck 2 players I'd be done after 5/6 games on each side, sure you can buy a collection of say 8/9 decks to give variety but that's a lot of cards. Radlands to me at least, feels really different based on your 3 starting base and because what you draw IS random; some emergent combos are crazy powerful (and even rare) but they create great memorable stories to get destroyed by or even better, overcome.

@thereal4579

2 жыл бұрын

@@simonmtkwong this guy gets it :)

Great review. I agree with many points you've made. Sharing a deck means you can't really set yourself up for too much, some combos are clearly more powerful than others, but all in all I had a very fun time with it. Its swingy and quick and thinky enough to make you pause for a minute, and its a great dueling card game. For someone who just cannot get into learning cards and building decks in these bigger CCG type games, this was super fun and definitely casual. Its a great time and I agree with it being a 7, if not an 8. Its definitely not even close to being hardcore. I've always wanted to get into Netrunner but the barrier to entry is too high right now for me. This was a great taste of that, and everyone I've played it with has liked it! And its also really fun to play a couple games over an hour or two. Personally I also think almost all cards feel great. You need to play the high cost cards strategically and if you do manage to get them in and protect them, the subsequent turn becomes a huge play.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

ohhh, yeah Netrunner is a totally different beast compared to this! Radlands is so so easy to just sit down and knock out a couple of games. Cheers! -Ashton

@paulstaker8861

2 жыл бұрын

Play netrunner with another newbie. It's not that hard starting out, and also plays fairly quickly :")

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

@@paulstaker8861 My netrunner days may be behind me atm, I used to play a ton of NBN and shaper/anarchist and had a great time! Still love the universe and remember all of the epic runs w/meat damage or to grab agendas. -Ashton

Not a fan of TCGs or deckbuilders, but Radlands was very accessible and just a fun time in general. I did get tired of it after a while though, but for what it is, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something more casual.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

I also did get tired with it after my 3rd/4th game, but indeed think its solid for what it is. Great for casual groups! -Ashton

Best review, you hit every issue on the head. Most reviews are singing its praise without going into depth with gameplay as you did!

Wow, totally agree. All your criticisms resonated so much with our experiences with the game, it so bad that for how cool the game looks, both colours and art, much of your games are filled with feel-bad moments. Resources always tight, difficult to pull combos out and ultra punished if you go for a big person play. After the disappointment from Radlands we found out and got into 'Omen: A Reign of War', also a card dueler with a shared deck and three lane system that solved many of the problems for us (its quickly becoming one of our favourites), maybe you could give it a look, anyways, great video!

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

hey thanks for this! Glad to see that you share an similar experience with us. Have heard plenty on omen as well, need to check it out! -Ashton

I've had a lot of fun with this game, although it did take me a couple plays to really understand how to play it. Personally I give it 7 or 8. My biggest problem is definitely balance-related. I've also had plenty of games where my opponent got off to an early lead, and I just spent the rest of the game slowly trying to stay alive but not actually make any offensive progress (exactly what Ashton mentioned in his personal score). If you get the chance, I'm curious what you'd think of another Roxley game: Dice Throne. My fiance and I love it, and it ended up being a gateway into us getting into more complicated games (despite it being quite easy to understand). Thanks for the video! And now I want to go play Radlands...

Wow, as someone who also plays lots of card games (I found board games to some degree from TCGs but that’s a long story), this was pretty scathing. Codex was a game I tried that was a similar “Magic in a box” type game that I thought was excellent, and I’ve also heard excellent things about BattleCON. Still, I’m glad you made this review. Redlands was on my radar as a potential option too, but as someone who’s played lots of card games Ashton’s comments really resonated with me. I really love that you guys are a two person duo all of the time; it means we as viewers always get two perspectives.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers! The video wasn't meant to scathing at all, just trying to give a complete picture of the systems here! Cool to see that my comments resonated with ya too. Will have to try codex! -Ashton

@Sm0k3zGaming

2 жыл бұрын

Also highly recommended both Codex and Battlecon! Codex replaces deck construction, collection and annoying meta shifts (that are caused by new releases) with a unique deck building mechanism that creates strategic and tactical plays and counter plays. There are six colours and (virtually) all can play agro, tempo or control. Battlecon is a beast of a game, with tons of depth and endless replayability. Zero luck simultaneous card selectioning stimulating a fighting game on a tight board. Very similar to Guards of Atlantis 2. The game hits a new level once you and your opponent develop a good understanding.

@meathir4921

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sm0k3zGaming Technically BattleCON has a small amount of luck at the start since the initial combat cards that are dealt facedown are random. It is so minor that it really does not impact much.

@Sm0k3zGaming

2 жыл бұрын

@@meathir4921 The starting hands are chosen by the players, at least in the version 4 rules. From the rulebook: "Each player chooses two Bases and two Styles*. These will form two Attack Pairs that should be placed in Discard Piles 1 and 2 respectively. These cards will not be available at the start of the duel but will become available soon (the Attack Pair in Discard Pile 2 will be the one you retrieve first)." Therefore, zero luck. Unless I've misread or mistaken what you meant?

@meathir4921

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sm0k3zGaming Oh, they revised the rules. Never mind then!

Good review! Almost pulled trigger on this one. Probably won’t now. Not related but would love to see you guys do a review of wonderlands war I’m sure it would be epic. Love the creativity and energy you guys bring to the hobby.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

hey thank you! We'll have to see if we can get around to wonderland wars one day, so many games to cover! cheers! -Ashton

Sold this after a few plays. It feels like it doesn’t allow for enough flexibility and feels limiting overall. It’s often very clear what the next best action is. That felt bad.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

thanks for sharing! Seems like we fall under a bit of the same vein here with personal tastes :) -Ashton

I agree with a lot of the cons you mentioned. I feel that I always want to junk all the high cost cards and only play low cost people cards. And additional con is that there are so many "restore" junk effect cards but no junk effect cards that can hit camp. That makes aggro plays less effective and the game last longer. I don't know if that is because I only played it two times. By the way, what do you think of mindbug? Most the reviews only mention the good things. I really want to see your critical comments.

@Shelfside

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing! Haven't played in a while so I can't remember the 'restore' vs. direct hits, but your concerns there make sense. Never played mindbug! Hopefully one day this year :) -Ashton

I think it is a mythical idea to have a strong 2 player card battle game that isn't a collection of card sets like CCG/TCG. Compressing that style of game into a single shared deck makes for an easy setup but you lose all the depth of construction and possibly draft of a bunch of cards to evaluate as well. Fast and deep might be difficult combo to pull off, but Star Realms does a good job.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely a hard combo to pull off! We're supposed to look into Codex, Omen, and Unmatched in the future, so excited to see what happens there -ashton

@destrio

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shelfside I've only played Codex once, but that might be a good place to start. My one play of Unmatched is a take on fast and light skirmish game rather than a card battle game. For now, a game system like LCG or CCG allows for content that players can explore and create that limited card games cannot fill purely by lack of choice. Ortus Regni might be one that you want to investigate, but I haven't been able to devote much time to playing it.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

@@destrio yep, we plan to cover unmatched at some point too for sure! -Ashton

Was thinking about getting this a while back, but passed as I can not see it doing anything that 51st State did not do, and more. I have Magic, and even co operation Arkham type games, so there was little draw to this. But glad it is well received.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

thanks for sharing! MTG fits this slot well if you're deep into that system, and AHLCG seems to be one of the most addicting coop card games around. Cheers! -Ashton

It's nice to see Daniel's scores again, sometimes it seems he's not in the channel as much.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

trying to get him in more vids! He has a root vid dropping soon :) -Ashton

Excellent review, as always. Personally, the simplicity and casual nature of the game dissuaded me from backing, I'm glad I didn't. The game seems incredibly insubstantial, if I wanted a two player casual duel game I'd rather play Dice Throne

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

cheers, thank you! -Ashton

Glad you made this review! You are my favorite bg reviewer Ashton, always very thorough. Did you play unmatched? Also casual 1v1 game. Or a war chest, which might be a game you would like much more, since it has more depth. Anyways, thanks for the review!

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

hey thank you for that! Helps make my day for sure. I have not played unmatched, but have been readily eyeing it at my local store! I'll keep war chest in mind too. Cheers! -Ashton

Thanks

Can't help but wonder if you're going to have anything to say about Mindbug, which seems to be the main opponent to Radlands. It's a lot simpler(it's basically INCREDIBLY pared down MtG - either play a card for free or attack, if attacked, block and lower strength dies or don't block and lose HP), but it's also a lot more overall zany, and it's got a clever trick up its sleeve to shift the blame from RNG to the player - the Mindbug, where twice a game you can just say "sorry, this is my creature now, play something else instead" in response to a card play. Mostly just wondering which of the two I'd want to get, if any at all - I'm definitely the kind of person that loves the idea of playing a TCG but hates building a deck, and so far, Innovation and Neuroshima Hex came close, but Innovation is heavily OOP locally (300% of its price at secondary market!), and Neuroshima Hex isn't all that portable, especially if you want to have a choice in what you're playing and not just carry exactly two armies around.

@Shelfside

7 ай бұрын

ohohoho, haven't tried it, but will put on our list, especially since its so similar to MTG. I have Monolith arena (the fantasy version of Neuroshima Hex), and it's actually decently portable with just 1 mat, and 2 plastic bags for each faction. If I bring 3 plastic bags for more replayability, i tend to get a lot out of it. I would suggest that if you're still interested in it! -Ashton

Hey, here it is! Cool. I will enjoy watching this, even if you poopoo the game.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

ahaha thank you :) Don't think I poo poo too hard here! -Ashton

@trooper6762

2 жыл бұрын

I finally got around to watching. It was a good review that brought up some issues I was worried about that other reviewers hadn’t really spent time describing. Thank you! This will be a pass for me as my meager gaming fund has to be spent on the best games for me and mine.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

@@trooper6762 sweet! glad we could help, good to cover the game from all angles :) -Ashton

@trooper6762

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shelfside Keep up the good work!

Damn. I wish you'd posted this last week before I ordered.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

aack! Well, better late than never, and you still may want to give it a shot to see if it fits your needs -Ashton

@thereal4579

2 жыл бұрын

its a great game.

No space for sleeves?

@sairam71

2 жыл бұрын

Don’t need sleeves. Plastic cards.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

our version had the cardstock, and indeed there is no space for sleeves :( -Ashton

@simonmtkwong

2 жыл бұрын

If you buy soft penny sleeves it's actually possible - even if you keep the insert; there's a very slight squeeze but doesn't damage sleeve or cards in any way. The standard rigid quality sleeves will be too much however.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

@@simonmtkwong good to know! Hopefully word of this gets out there, I would have never known :3 -Ashton

@A6by

2 жыл бұрын

A lot of the gimmick of the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the game was that the cards are made of very thick synthetic material that's waterproof, bendproof, etc. So they specifically mention that the cards shouldn't be sleeved, and leave no space for sleeves. ...But then, there's the cheap ~$13 retail copy which has normal cards, which is what they seem to be using in the review. I've also interacted with this version of the game in person, and I would say there's probably space for sleeves, but not Dragon Shields or anything that thick and fancy. As has been mentioned, it looks like it'd fit penny sleeves.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I’m pretty shocked by how harsh this review is and disagree with nearly everything said in it. Judging by the reviews oversimplification of the games tactics, I just don’t think you guys got it, or played it enough to fully appreciate its strategic depth. For example, if you’re junking cards all the time, than you’re not optimizing your resources (since it costs 2 water to draw a card), and you’ll lose to a more experienced player who’s building their hand and spending their resources more efficiently. This is one of our favourite games (10/10) that gets to the table a lot due to its simplicity, ease of set up and just overall fun factor. Its complexity hits the sweet spot in terms of being easy to teach, while still offering a lot of strategic depth. Not to mention, one of its best selling features is that this is a card battler that was designed as a balanced stand alone game with no greedy collectible revenue generating model (looking at you MTG). The camp drafting and random draws offer enough variability to keep this game fresh with each play. Anyways, I appreciate all the content you guys put out, but just thought this review was a little unfair and felt the need to defend the game from a different perspective.

This game was nigh-worshipped on /r/boardgames and I could not understand why. Personally I'd give it a 5 or 6. If I want to play a low cost summoner game I'd just play Magic with the countless casual decks that one can buy.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

I would warrant that the game being insanely accessible and still warranting some pretty good think-y moments in 20 minutes is plenty reason why! Is something that you could get quite enamored with by playing back to back games -Ashton

I wonder what these guys think about Keyforge.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

played it a couple times in college, didn't tickle my fancy. Yet this could have to do with how weird our given decks were -Ashton

@paulhamrick3943

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shelfside I’ve tried to get into “casual” MTG, meaning or pre-constructed decks that are relatively balanced, but I’m a bit turned off by the mana flood/screw and all that, so my initial plays Keyforge seem like it might be the better game because there’s no mana. But I get that some people want to do the meta game of deck construction, I just don’t want to play a “lifestyle” game like that.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

@@paulhamrick3943 aaah yeah, I think my personal enjoyment of MTG is currently duel decks and draft cubes (crafted by friends). I just don't have the time to get into deck construction for that, as nuanced as it is. If you're concerned about mana flood/screw, I would suggest Ashes: Reborn! Have a great time with that here -Ashton

I'm sorry, but a review shouldn't be longer than the game takes to play...

I feel like the shine has worn off this game....magic meets mad max

@paulstaker8861

2 жыл бұрын

Magic Max ....oh god

some of these complaints IE iconography, full art, text, junk mechanic, card cost, are non issues. Only thing I agree with is the game requires flexible vs deck construction/strategy. Game is simple, intuitive, fun. There's a reason why this game is so widely revered and well received. Just like most your reviews your cons for games are always a stretch and feel like padding for video length. There are big swingy top deck moments just like in any card game. and the game is short enough where it doesn't matter, just shuffle and play again. I whole heartedly disagree with this video.

@Shelfside

2 жыл бұрын

When playing, others getting confused about the camps vs people being ready despite being damaged came up a lot. The icons and wording also caused initial bits of confusion that you wouldn't think would happen with a game that's supposed to be this streamlined (people not realizing sniper "any" could damage protected cards, and then getting confused as to why other cards then need to state that they target "unprotected" cards if that's supposed to be given) Like obviously these are minor issues that get cleared up pretty quickly while playing, but that's not really an excuse for a game that's supposed to be this simple and streamlined, and would be more excusable for a more complex game. -Daniel

@thereal4579

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shelfside non of those issues came up because the rulebook clearly states of any text contradicts the rules the then go by the text. The cards clearly state when they deviate from the base rule. So when In Doubt just go by the text of the card. I iconography is clearly expressed through the player aids. Game was very streamlined. As with and EVERY battling type card game there are always cards that challenge the rules as written. That's what makes those cards interesting. Either way, y'all complaints about the game are mostly non issues that are cleared up very easily and quickly and didn't warrant the trash rating given. However, ratings are subjective so arguing that isn't really fruitful. The issue for me is y'all's review videos are very long and typically filled with non issues and repetitiveness for length padding IMO. So when knowing the some of the games very well, just causes a bunch of smh and eye rolling and asking myself, really???