Drinking game : Take a shot everytime you hear "Slowly but surely"...then rinse and repeat.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Slowly but surely you'll get drunk ;)

Love the puzzle this game provides, the feeling of being on the edge of failure, coming back to win, and when powers perfectly synergize with each other. I need to get the two expansions some day. I'd love to see them make a competitive version of the game, going back before colonization, when the spirits would compete to have the most worshippers.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Oooh, a competitive Spirit Island would be interesting.

I added Branch and Claw early on after getting SI and I have never looked back. The tokens and events added by the expansion make the island feel so much more alive and the gameflow becomes significantly less mechanical/abstract clockwork and far more unpredictable/realistic. The event cards not only make it feel like the Invaders are reacting and different and unpredictable ways, but it also makes it feel like the Dahan, Beasts, and Island are busy doing things and acting in ways outside your influence. I could never go back to playing without Branch and Claw and even go so far as to include when teaching new people as well because I think it is that fundamental to the experience. Jagged Earth only makes the mechanics introduced in B&C all the sweeter and more varied. One of my favorite parts of JE was doubling my Event Deck for even more variety to our game's narrative and more challenges to adapt to or exploit.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Oh man, everything you're saying has me convinced, I need to read that rulebook.

@lp9092

2 жыл бұрын

@@BoardGameCo I echo him 100%. Well said. I hesitated for over a year , then got B.C. and JE. It’s just more good stuff. Highly recommended.

One of my all time favorite too! Love your videos and your passion and enthusiasm! Also a joy to watch

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

@Freddy_da_fox

3 жыл бұрын

@@BoardGameCo nothing to thank! Just keep up your awesome work :)

the fact you like Spirit Island makes me happy :) not everyone gets it. awesome review!

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I just watched your crate video yesterday!

The other day I played a round with a friend and just did one of the easy scenarios, and of course we won, but we didn't just win; we killed every single invader, ended with no blight on the island, and there were more dahan than we started with 😂😂 It was not a challenging round, but man it was satisfying to do just that well.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Nice! Still never won that much myself.

Absolutely agree, my favourite solo game.Great review..

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks :)

@brianmyers13

3 жыл бұрын

Really? Hmmmmm.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

@@brianmyers13 really to what?

@EduardTodor

3 жыл бұрын

@@brianmyers13 Yep it's my favourite all time game. Granted I haven't played a crazy amount of games but I just can't see myself getting bored of it once I get my hand on BnC and Jagged Earth

Thanks for the review. You just made me want even more this game :). I love heavy games that presents me challenges, puzzles and difficulties. I'm interested in this game for a looooong time, since I'm mainly a solo gamer. However, since I got Tainted Grail this month, and I'm getting Gloomhaven JotL next week, and some more until July, maybe I'll skip this one for now. But it's the next one I want to buy for sure. Like always, keep up your good work Alex. You're almost in 20k subscribers :D.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joao!

Love Spirit Island, great review!

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

It's sooo good :)

I pulled this off the shelf a couple days ago..bought it to play coop with my siblings but we havent met up much over the last year and i decided to give the solo a shot while i wait for Trismegistus to arrive..this game is brutal and unforgiving and im still playing the most basic novice rules. ive been sitting with a clump of my hair in hand in a semi stupper analysis paralysis daze, i read through the blighted island card, scenarios and adversaries last night and ive never been more intimidated by words and numbers in my life. im thinking ill have more fun playing a two spirits so that i can synergise my card play as some of the spirits have such a slow and painfully demoralizing start in solo. I was thinking about branch and claw but i think im months and dozens of plays away from having the courage to add in a deck of random madness. Going to shelf Trismegistus when it arrives and keep this on the table until im achieving victory more often than not. best wishes. Keep up your good work!!

I love this game so much. It'll never leave my collection

Man, I guess you really like this game! I am sold!

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

In my top 50, and really might even get higher as I play it more :)

Thanks for the review :) I have Branch and Claws for like 1 year I’ve read the rules but I never played it yet since the base game is still too much fun itself.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, I really just need to pull it out and play it :)

Interesting, I find the invader pieces contribute heavily to the artistic statement of the game. The spirit, dahan, and island components are all natural (wood/ cardboard/ paper) with vibrant and appealing colors. Meanwhile, the invader pieces are manufactured plastic in a sterile, glaring white (very tongue in cheek). The invader pieces don’t look like they belong there, bc the invaders don’t belong on SI. The pieces are unpleasant to interact with because the invaders themselves are unpleasant to interact with. Any attempt to deluxify them would undercut this feeling I think. It is rare to see a game’s components be so inherently thematic, and is something I really admire about this game. Personally, I also find the hit point design to be clever and functional as well, but to each their own. Overall though, really solid review and glad to hear you enjoyed it! This is a top five for me, and maybe my favorite solo game of all time.

@BoardGameCo

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, I've definitely heard that before. And while I respect the argument that specifically making them look out of place is the exact choice... At the end of the day, that's still means they look out of place 🙂

Love your videos Alex! You're my go to person when deciding to back a KS game or not. EDIT: Removing question from comment :P

@Konkytonk

3 жыл бұрын

Clearly havent watched the whole video as he already answered your questions in the video ;)

@srwgundam

3 жыл бұрын

@@Konkytonk I comment before I watched the video lol

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks :) And looks like I missed a question, so to be safe I'll go with 42.

Anyone here? Wow first time I am one of the first to comment :-). Anyhow back to the topic - I really adore your channel mate for honesty and personal touch in your videos. Keep up the good work! And spirit Island just got my copy 2 weeks ago and can't wait to get my hands on it! Thanks for your opinion. I was pretty sure that was excellent choice to buy it and now I know it was even better :-)

Great review!! I may have to do one of my own one day! although thatd be a really long video, I already know it. 😂

@BeingFriends

3 жыл бұрын

also, yes, I do like the headache using 2 spirits brings 😨😂

@BeingFriends

3 жыл бұрын

I didn't realize you hadn't used the expansion mechanics!! You've gotta do it!! so good

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

This one is one of your favorites isn't it? You should totally review it :)

This is my favorite game. Played hundreds of hours so far on the app alone. Branch and Claw does give this a very different feel. I didn't feel ready for it either but I recommend you take the time and try it out anyway.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

It's soooo good :)

Spirit Island was the first board game my wife asked to play again. She's been resistant to the hobby of board games, but she had gone through her day thinking about wanting to play Spirit Island, which is more to say than any other board game in my sizeable collection.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Nice :) It's a lot of fun :)

@RenbroNL

3 жыл бұрын

Cool. But I'm surprised reading this given how heavy Spirit Island is. I've been trying to work my way up with my girlfriend. At Viticulture level right now. Very hesident trying something like this though.

@nerdsomnia

3 жыл бұрын

@@RenbroNL I can’t speak for Vicitulture because I’ve never played it, but it looks pretty complex as well. Primarily, the daunting aspects of Spirit Island are probably the layers of systems governing the game. A more experienced player definitely makes games run much smoother, when they can look at the board and say things like, “we need to take care of the shoreline this turn.” or “this territory will spill blight next turn, please play cards to rid the filthy settlers.” or “let’s focus on fear building this turn, once we level our fear, we win.” Then the novice player only ever needs to care what cards they play to help the current situation, and what they want to do on their next turn.

Someday this will be mine, just have so many to play at the moment I don’t want it to sit on the shelf of shame. Also hoping maybe they offer a more deluxe version someday.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I want that deluxe version!

Funny you picked out Tsunami, the ebb and flow of the Ocean Spirit hurts my brain. It's a great game. I wish my wife liked this one but this is one I don't actually own and have a friend who has all the expansions and had a regular group I was a part of pre covid-19. We do 4p and have always enjoyed it. I wonder if I'd like it ever more with 3.

Completely agree with this review. Seconding your point on the miniatures. There are some deluxe options for other pieces, but I haven't seen anything that reasonably upgrades the core miniatures.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Ya, as soon as I find one I like, I'll buy it and show it off :)

One of my favorite games. Played over 200 times -.- You have to try the expansions. The events are great and make the game a little bit easier overall and add a lot of fluff. Some peopme don‘t like the random nature of the events, but I see this as a plus, because it takes the burden from your shoulders to find the best possible turn. If you add the expansions, just mix both together as they basically add the same content. And check bgg for the latest errata. There has been a huge change in the rules for setup lately which is critical formthe way spieit island is played.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I really need to play them :( And will do on the errata, thanks!

@BeingFriends

3 жыл бұрын

200 is dang impressive! I've played about 55 (and counting!)😆

Such a wonderful game...currently pushing myself beyond level 7....some spirits are solo powerhouses..some i will only touch when I play 2 player or more.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Nice! Haven't tried level 7 yet.

The expansions are truly worth it. The new spirits are soooo rewarding to play.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I need to play them!

One of my favorite games too and only play it solo (3-4 Spirits). I have the Jagged Earth KS and haven't done anything more with it then sleeve the cards because I also have the digital version on Steam and have sunk about 100 hours into it trying to refine strategy (that adaptation is great btw, and gives access to the original 2 promo spirits which have been out of stock at GTG's site for like 2 years). I agree that the little explorers are a bit janky (and the scale relative to the Towns/Cities bothers me) but I don't understand your complaint about how "the miniatures aren't even functional." They're quite functional and personally I think they made very clever use of 3D design. If a building takes damage you turn it on it's side so it becomes obvious that it isn't at full HP. A City has 3 HP and on each piece there are 3 structures (vs the 2 structures on the smaller Town-piece with 2 HP). Each structure is offset a specific way so when a City takes 1 dmg you turn it on its side so that 2 structures are facing "up" (now it visually shows 2 HP). If it takes another dmg then rotate it 90 degrees so that the side with 1 structure is left "standing" (representing 1 HP remaining). The Town also uses the same principle of offset structures, but there's really nothing to track because it has 2 HP, so if it is flipped it only has 1 HP left. That's all there is to it. I don't see why this component gets so much flack. They could have just used tokens that you stack up Too-Many-Bones-style or dice for counters like a lot of other games (and if you prefer that then just get a bunch of economy dice, or scribe a 1 and 2 on the corresponding sides of the cities, or paint each structure a different color). To each their own, but I think the design of the Towns/Cities was a great choice. My biggest complaint is that they didn't make the player boards dual-layer. They're quite thick already so it wouldn't have required much more effort, cost or box space. Unlike, say, the "player boards" in Terraforming Mars

In case no one else mentioned it - Spirit Island was originally planned with Branch and Claw being a part of the core game. It's only the production costs and complexity increase, that resulted in the game being split into core and expansion. This is why when people say the expansion "completes the game" they are really on point. It helps turn it into more of a game and not just a puzzle through the events. The new token types really flesh out ways to interact with invaders, and the new spirits showcase them really well. To top it off, Jagged Earth is designed to bring the Branch and Claw changes without requiring it, though it adds a few more things beyond that. You can't go wrong with either expansion, and their prices reflect the amount of content quite well. However I would highly recommend having at least one of them, because they really do add to the core game.

I absolutely love Spirit Island. If you ever find that upgrade pack, I'm in. I literally want to buy a 3d printer to make my own explorers 😀

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, I'm in for that :)

@hamzad5061

3 жыл бұрын

Dont forget the golems and others spirits

Loved this. Do you have a favourite spirit or spirit combo?

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Not offhand...I keep mixing them up every time I play :)

Arkham horror lcg is what got me into solo playing.

Def my fav coop game! I’m a definite alpha gamer, and this is one of the few coops I don’t hate because of it! (Hanabi is another that does well with it) I also refuse to play it with more than 2 players, the length is a steep exponential curve

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, more than two I'm always averse to....willing but reluctant.

@ea_gaming

3 жыл бұрын

@@BoardGameCo there are just so many games that play better at 3 or 4! They may not be as good or heavy as Spirit Island, but fit the player count better. I tend to pick what game to play based first on player count, then mechanics/theme/preference

Easily one of the best games currently available. Loads of content and ways to play and there are many Multi Kallax games with less actual gameplay content than this. Good to play True Solo and IMO it's not really a brain burner @ True Solo but it really shines with 2 Spirits Solo due to the synergies but it's ramps up the complexity by an order of magnitude. I've not tried to Solo 3 Spirits as it's maybe a bit too much unless your really familiar with the game. I suppose if you don't like Alpha Gamers play a 4 player SI and just sit back and let them do All the work.. and watch their brains leak out of their ears :). So I'd say this game has a built in Alpha Control mitigation. With SI I'll happily play a new Spirit True Solo but something Like Too Many Bones I'll never play True Solo as that game only really works 2+ Characters Solo.

Are the games behind you on the chimney a hint of what you're gonna play? It changes almost every video hahaha

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

:) They're games on my radar to get to the table.

How often (percentage wise) is the solo player successful?

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Depends on difficulty. I just up it until I feel it's a challenge, but on easy you'll win most of the time ONCE you know how to play the game.

@yamahkogribbis6212

3 жыл бұрын

@@BoardGameCogood to know. Thanks!

Hm, in first 1min and a half i counted 3x "slowly but surely" :D how many will there be until the end of the video? Someone should make a t-shirt with this phrase :D

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Slowly but surely, more will show up.

might be worth playing solo, tried this multiplayer (4 players) and that was a slow horror experience with a player with serious ap issue

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Ouch, 1-2 players until everyone knows what's going on.

Was really hoping you'd hate it.... This is on my buy list, but in the UK it's £65.. And then i've got to buy all the damn expos! Just finished buying everything Scythe had to offer... Well, better get saving! Thanks :)

@BoardGameCo

Жыл бұрын

Sorry! It's a good game :)

This is a game that has a ridiculous learning curve... but if if you keep at it and, the mechanics will click and oh wow... what an awesome awesome game and play experience,

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed on both counts :)

Have you played Mage Knight solo??

@BoardGameCo

2 жыл бұрын

Yes!

Omg yes! I've got the same complaint as you! Those flimsy explorers are sooooooooo bad, and there's no upgrades anywhere...

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I know :( I need better components.

@Iamwrongbut

3 жыл бұрын

See my standalone comment on this video - it was done on purpose by the designer.

Thankfully the alpha gamer wont do his job at this game.this would be my next game i will purchase when the shipping will be open.thanks Alex

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Happy to help :)

Is this getting another expansion?

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Not that I know of...but I'm sure it will.

One of the games that I disappoint the most. They sell it to you as super thematic and immersive and it is one of the most abstract, mechanical and repetitive games that I played in my life. And what I don't understand is why they don't say it. Why are they afraid to say that it is an abstract puzzle? Nice video!

Funny, I’m a minis person who paints as well, and I love the look of these. I would neither paint nor “upgrade” them!

if you're gonna play solo, you might as well get the digital version.

@BoardGameCo

2 жыл бұрын

I don't disagree...while also liking tactile experiences.

Alex! Stop that! Are you not satisfied making me buy a bunch of kickstarters? Oh well, let me buy one copy on Amazon... P.s. Of the 7 games I bought in 2020, only one was not suggested by you.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry about that....except this game is great...so maybe not all that sorry.

A couple of negatives i have experienced with Spirit Island: If you use adversaries and scenarios,the game becomes very fiddly to run and it is very easy to make mistakes. Secondly if you want to use all the cards and mechanisms from the expansions,you would also have to use events,which throw the deterministic nature of the base game out the window.It actually works against it's "thinkiness",since you might be busting your head about how to avoid a blight for 10 minutes and then the event is drawn and you get it anyway.Or vice versa,it might save you.But it sometimes renders your efforts irrelevant.

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I agree in the scenarios, doesn't bother me since even if I forget something, it still adds to the difficulty and does it's job.

What? The invaders of the peaceful island that destroy the nature and people living there feel out of place and as if they wouldn't belong? No way, dude!

I really enjoy this game, but I disagree with your comments about the "alpha player" problem. That hasn't been an issue in the games I've played so far... BUT the game doesn't do anything at all to make this NOT a problem, and I think the only reason it hasn't become an issue yet is people's lack of familiarity with the cards/powers. Once we have more experience and recognize the abilities, there is no reason why one player couldn't plan the turns of everyone else at the table.

To your point about the terrible plastic miniatures, the designer has spoken about how he designed them to be that way on purpose. If you’ve noticed, all of the bad things in the game are made of plastic, which is man made and unnatural. The Dahan and spirit presence tokens are wooden, which is a natural material. The plastic miniatures are meant to be a turn-off because they are meant to inspire disgust from the player who is playing the role of the spirit(s).

@BoardGameCo

3 жыл бұрын

I totally hear that....but still want deluxified components :)

You think the miniatures are HORRIBLE looking? Think that's really harsh. They're pretty good in my opinion but appreciate that's subjective. But horrible? That surprises me.

@BoardGameCo

2 жыл бұрын

Horrible in comparison to what's standard these days? Yes.