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[eHalcyon]

I've been watching "rahdo runs through" of a bunch of Feld games.  I've watched:

- Castles of Burgundy
- Bora Bora
- In the Year of the Dragon
- Macao
- Notre Dame
- Trajan

Still have to watch Roma and Luna.  Looking on BGG, other games of his are:

- Amerigo
- Brugge
- It Happens
- The Name of the Rose
- The Pillars of the Earth: Builders duel
- Rialto
- Rum & Pirates
- The Speicherstadt
- Strausbourg

Not sure if these have run-through videos.  I hear Rum & Pirates is very different from his usual, and It Happens looks a bit lighter as well.  I know how Speicherstadt works and I'm not super interested in it, though it is neat.

Of the ones I've watched, Bora Bora looks neat but seems super busy.  Watching the playthrough though, it is simpler than it first seems.

ItYotD is neat too.  I'm not sure how much I like that you are just scoring points ALL THE TIME.

Trajan is like that too!  I really, really like the concept of using the mancala.  That is awesome.  But the theme doesn't really do it for me.

I wasn't so fond of Macao, though the way the dice are used looks fun.

I like Notre Dame.  Seems rather different than others I've seen.

Judging purely from the playthrough videos, I think CoB is my favourite.  But that might be influenced from having just played through a game of it on Boite a Jeux.




What do people here think of Feld's games?  I know there are plenty of threads about this on BGG and elsewhere, but I'm interested in your opinions.  How do they compare in terms of fiddliness of rules and components?  Game length?  Complexity?

[Thisisnotasmile]

I have also been watching a load of run through videos recently (it's definitely my favourite review format), and I've too seen a load of Feld games. I've recently seen videos for Macao, Castles of Burgundy, Bora Bora and Brugge and probably one or two others I didn't realise were Feld games. I've not really played any of his games before other than ItYotD which I played once when I'd just started gaming and I hated it so I haven't played since. I might check it out again at some point though because I'm sure I'd like it better now I've developed my taste for slightly heavier games.

From the Feld run throughs I've seen, I've decided that he's probably one of my favourite designers. I love how a lot of his games involve dice in novel ways, but are never games that rely heavily on luck. I just wish my club owned more of his games so I could try them out myself.


As for the Run Through videos themselves, I'd like to recommend this guy. (Right off the bat) I've found that although Rahdo has a lot of good points (lots of videos, good production value), this guy's are much better. (And right off the bat) From what I've seen, Rahdo makes multiple mistakes in every game he plays, and it kind of ruins it for me because I'm not actually watching the game being played, I'm watching the game being played with multiple house rules, if you like. He speaks a bit too fast for me, I know he's just passionate and into what he's doing, but (right off the bat) I feel he's just rushing himself and that's what causes the mistakes. Also, I (right off the bat) dislike that Rahdo usually gets a couple of turns from the end and then says "Oh, you know what, I'll just stop it here". No thank you, please play until the end. I want to see how the game finishes! Miwi solves these issues for me making it a much better viewing experience, also he's just uploaded a run through of Brügge if you wanted to check it out.

I still watch and enjoy Rahdo's videos, I'll just rather watch Miwi's version if there is one.

Edit: Added some "right off the bat"s for Rahdo fans.

[brokoli]

I played four games by Feld until nom : In the year of the dragon, Trajan, CoB and Luna.

Trajan is definitely my favourite. I love the mancala concept me too, and there is a real logic between the actions.
Castles of Burgundy my 2nd favourite. It's a very interesting game, but more tactic and opportunistic than strategic.
Year of the dragon is more a "survival" game... very good but very frustrating too.
Luna is a bit too complicated and not really exciting for me.

So Feld is one of my favourite boardgame designer too, I am eager to try Brügge and Amerigo !

[Reyk]

I've not really played any of his games before other than ItYotD which I played once when I'd just started gaming and I hated it so I haven't played since. I might check it out again at some point though because I'm sure I'd like it better now I've developed my taste for slightly heavier games.

I really like "In the year of the dragon", but I can easily see that it might be frustrating for casual gamers/beginners - especially in a tight 5 player game. For introduction 3 players is best imho. The Great Wall expansion from Alea's Treasure chest is very interesting too and maybe slightly more forgiving.

[Thisisnotasmile]

So my club got a copy of The Castles of Burgundy (finally). It was ordered a couple of weeks ago and I'd been eagerly awaiting its arrival because I've wanted to give it a go for so long, and it turned up in time for our meeting on Saturday. I played it twice and it was great. Both games went pretty differently, with the first having a lot of jostling for start player but in the second, one player snapped up a load of ships early and rushed off into the lead retaining start player for the entire game until the very last turn when somebody else built a sixth ship, but only really for the completion bonus.

In both games I rolled highest and went first. First game I was stuck with very few workers for most of the game and struggled to do what I wanted to do most of the time and had to settle for my plan B. Second game I grabbed a couple of the buildings that give you 4 workers (orphanage?), and the worker +-2 knowledge tile and the game went much smoother from my perspective. In both games I got an early mine advantage (being start player) and had plenty of Silverlings.

Looking forward to playing it some more. I'd particularly like to experience the game from a non-start player perspective where the starting mines go before I can grab them. I imagine the game would play a bit differently starting with more workers but no easy mines.

[ipofanes]

Played my first game of Brügge yesterday. My first impressions (ending up last in a 4-player game) were:

• As many other newer games, this action-point allocation game tends to err on the side of brevity leaving you thinking how much more you could have achieved.
• The prestige advancement seems to be ruled by groupthink. We had two guys paying for advancement each single turn, which meant there was no way to catch up once you were behind, but also that none of the two scored the sole leader tile.
• Way to many victory points are collected at the end of the game, and in the case of sole leader tiles unnecessarily so. It was hard to forecast who'd be the winner during the game, but then interaction is sparse.
• The number of indvidual person cards (156) and even of factions (I can't even tell how many) is overwhelming. The multi-use function of the cards is very nice. Colour mix between cards is very important, but as you have only two stacks to draw from, you can affect this only to a limit.
• Some player interaction with special person abilities but as with Dominion, you can't single out opponents to deal damage to.

On first impression, I liked Trajan and Speicherstadt better. My feeling was that with that many different person cards, it is hard to evolve a strategy and the game is more about situational VP grabbing.

[Watno]

I have played Brügge once, and I thought it was pretty good.

[D Bo]

So my club got a copy of The Castles of Burgundy (finally). It was ordered a couple of weeks ago and I'd been eagerly awaiting its arrival because I've wanted to give it a go for so long, and it turned up in time for our meeting on Saturday. I played it twice and it was great. Both games went pretty differently, with the first having a lot of jostling for start player but in the second, one player snapped up a load of ships early and rushed off into the lead retaining start player for the entire game until the very last turn when somebody else built a sixth ship, but only really for the completion bonus.

In both games I rolled highest and went first. First game I was stuck with very few workers for most of the game and struggled to do what I wanted to do most of the time and had to settle for my plan B. Second game I grabbed a couple of the buildings that give you 4 workers (orphanage?), and the worker +-2 knowledge tile and the game went much smoother from my perspective. In both games I got an early mine advantage (being start player) and had plenty of Silverlings.

Looking forward to playing it some more. I'd particularly like to experience the game from a non-start player perspective where the starting mines go before I can grab them. I imagine the game would play a bit differently starting with more workers but no easy mines.

This is part of what makes this game so fun - you can still win from non-first player seating, you just might have to adjust what you focus on. It is next to impossible to win every color and if someone sets their sites on sailing to remain in first, or mines to get the money, switch your focus to castles or knowledge or buildings. Not sure if you played with just the first player mats, but since there are 8 other unique ones, it really makes it different each time depending on the mats that you and your opponents are playing with.

[Thisisnotasmile]

Yeah, everyone played with board 1 both games. I was happy to jump right in with variety, even on the first game but others weren't and the second game was with other new people. I'm hoping to teach enough people that one day I'll be able to get a game going with people who have all played before, because I really want to try out the different boards. I can see how each board and each possible starting position on them can all influence different strrategies.

[Blueswan]

I've only played Bora Bora and I absolutely loved it - even based on just one play. It's at the very top of my "to buy" list along with Dominion Alchemy (only expansion I don't have yet).

I actually own Castles Of Burgundy but haven't played it yet.

I'm eager to try Trajan as well.

[brokoli]

You can try Trajan and Castles of Burgundy on http://boiteajeux.net/

[Thisisnotasmile]

/in if someone starts a newbie game of Trajan. Same username as here.

[Qvist]

/in if someone starts a newbie game of Trajan. Same username as here.

I would like to learn this game too.