The Isofarian Guard – Boss Battles

A boss battle is part of The Isofarian Guard that I have had yet to play. And an interesting part, for me, in that I wasn’t sure how much it would differ from regular combat. The simple answer to it is that it didn’t differ all that much. But it is harder, which is what I expect from a boss battle.

I think it reminds me of how they recommend playing Dungeons and Dragons. The idea is what you battle a number of times throughout the day. I think it’s something like six times, so if you have a team that is loaded and ready to go a boss battle won’t be so bad. But as you fight throughout the day, a boss battle becomes harder and harder. You use more resources that would be useful.

The Isofarian Guard kind of feels this way. If I went into that fight full health, no negatives in my bag, I would have won. But because I went in down health with negatives already in one of my bags, it made it harder. I like that about it because I can’t just assume that I’ll win. There is a grind of the travel and combats leading up to the boss fight.

I also think that I could have been higher leveled. If you make it to the end of the fight, you’ll see how many chips I’m drawing for Grigory and how I am able to manipulate them. That offers an interesting shift from the faster battles. I can activate Grigory almost fully, but do I get the best benefit or, like at the end there, was it hurting me because I drew out a lot of poison. But it lets you ramp into bigger and better attacks.

Upcoming Streams

So, next Monday I want to play one of two games. I have Trailblazers that just came in what I want to learn. Or I have Cursed!? a little solo game that seems like a lot of fun as well. So that is what I am debating about for Monday. Monday streams happen at 9 PM Central time. And I will announce what game I plan to play, probably about thirty minutes before hand.

Then on Wednesday, it is time for more of The Isofarian Guard. This happens at 8 PM Central and I will be playing for two more weeks. After that, at the start of October, the focus will shift to my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. I do that every year around this time and try and finish up before the holidays. So I hope that you will join for both more of the Isofarian Guard as well as my Top 100.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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The Isofarian Guard – Second Crowdfunding Campaign

Now that the Isofarian Guard has been out for a little bit, it is getting a second campaign. First time it went to Kickstarter and this time it is on Gamefound. If you own the game, do you need to pay attention to this campaign?

Returning Backers

The answer is, yes, you should. There is an upgrade pack and it is going to provide a fair number of upgrades to your game. Mainly, every book, campaign book, quest book, indexes, has been redone. Plus new cards as well, and anything else that is new and unlocked in this campaign. So there is a lot of new stuff to add to your game that hopefully will all be an improvement.

And it’ll be worth seeing what all the unlocks are. Right now it is that the quests are now on Foreteller, or will be. And that is going to be nice, that means that the whole experience, storywise, will be able to be played and narrated. The other things is that there is a new water location, I’m assuming a tile or sticker for the board. And there are more events, which, I haven’t gone through them all yet.

But events are used across all the campaigns. So I will repeat as I do different characters and their campaigns. That is nice, then, because it’ll slow that down. And I feel like I might see them all in a single campaign, or a lot of them. But now, I don’t think that I will.

New Backers

How about if you are new. Unfortunately and expectedly the price has gone up. The original crowdfunding campaign was an amazing and unsustainable price point. So it does cost more. If this is a game you should back or not, I want to just leave you with my game plays. Does the game look fun for you?

That is what I like so much about game play video. It might not be for everyone, a review might make more sense for you. But for me, game play helps me the most. It shows me how the game is played and while in campaign games there are spoilers, hopefully not too many. And hopefully not to the point where that might be lacking in the game. Plus, you can pick the option that I didn’t.

So if the game looks fun, then back it. If it doesn’t, skip it. There is a ton of content out there for it, or at least enough, including my own. So there is enough information to make an informed decision.

Upcoming Streams

Let’s start with next Wednesday at 8 PM Central. The plan is more of The Isofarian Guard. I want to know what adventures Alek and Grigory get up to. But, it is getting close to when I start my Top 100 Games (Of All Time) 2023 Edition. I plan to do the rankings on that very soon. So I likely will play The Isofarian Guard 3 more weeks and then do my Top 100 Games (Of All Time) 2023 Edition. So be aware that switch will happen soon.

And then on Monday. The Wilds of Eldraine are coming out from Magic The Gathering. So I might open up packs of that. If I don’t, a solo board game is going to be the plan. And I don’t foresee that podcasting will get in the way. So I plan to stream and join me then to see what the game I get to the table is, or what fun cards I might open. Monday I stream at 9 PM Central.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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The Isofarian Guard – Story vs Grind

The Isofarian Guard has a common problem to a lot of bigger board games. And I talked about it some last week, but let’s talk about the ratio of story to grind. Because, I think it’s an interesting conundrum for a lot of games.

There is a balancing act of how hard you make the game and how much of the game is effort and what level of reward you get. I like my games to be hard, especially cooperative games. If a cooperative game just leads to easy win after win, I lose interest in the game. But sometimes the difficultly is changed to grind in a game.

The Grind

Grind, if not a familiar term, is doing busywork to level up a character, get new gear, something like that. And that is often done at expense of the story of the game. Players can spend all their time grinding out levels without progressing story and just doing the same thing over and over again, which isn’t fun.

Grind, in some games, is a natural part of the game. In The Isofarian Guard there is some grind built into the game. As you travel you fight monsters and level up. And every node, if you are unlucky, you might fight every time.

Player Inflicted Grind

Now we’ve seen how The Isofarian Guard has that grind in the game. And it took me two sessions to get to the next piece of story. Well, that is kind of true. I chose at one point in time to pass on story. And that is a choice that I made to do more story. But, if I want, I pick more side story or I pick more fighting.

Players, from what I know, often play out so many side quests and get into so many combats that they over level for the game. It is a game of getting everything first. Then, once all the leveling up is done, then they explore. So when you level all the way up, then exploring the story is going to be very easy.

Story

So it is part of the game to have this grind. But in The Isofarian Guard, you end up getting things just from the natural grind. I know that the nature grind doesn’t always give you the best things though, which is where players fell into the trap of doing all the grind to level up everything through side quests.

The game itself tries to keep the story going. I expect that I will run across the map. And I expect that with that, I will grind out a number of combats. But, I also think that it’s likely that it won’t be too much of a grind. Going from Fort Strahz to Fort Istra wasn’t too much work. And the next spot they want me to go is not far away either.

So the balance here, I think, comes from the choices that players make. And if you want to over optimize and grind early in the game to get everything, you can. But that is not an issue with the game, then. If you select that, or if I select to do that to build up Fort Istra, it is a choice I make for the game.

Upcoming Streams

I stream on Monday and Wednesday. Wednesday is normally a campaign game. So I expect at least 5 more sessions of The Isofarian Guard. Then when I feel like I have shown off the game well enough, I like to switch over to a new campaign game. And you can be a part of all of that by joining me at 8 PM Central Time.

Monday the stream is later 9 PM Central Time. And I like to play one off games on that streams. So often a roll and write games or a smaller solo game. I generally don’t know what I’ll play, so come join me for a surprise game.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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The Isofarian Guard – Story to Grind Ratio

So, one complaint that I’ve heard about The Isofarian Guard is the amount of grind in the game. And this, also from what I’ve heard is a factor of two things. One of the two causing another issue with the game, but that is a player problem, so we’ll touch on that second. Let’s start with talking about last nights session.

Battle Grind

So in last nights session of The Isofarian Guard, I got the same combat twice. Now, I hit different zones, so that changes up what I might be facing. There is also a balancing act of not wanting something to be too hard or having too many monsters or enemies to face. Adding more is a great way to make a big game harder to get to the table. This is already a game that takes up a whole gaming table.

The downside is that I beat up two of the same enemy and due to how those enemies work, it was not that unique. Now, some of this is due to lower leveled characters. Alek is always going to be able to pull of his starting combo. That is always going to make Grigory’s next turn better. So it is a balancing act for the The Isofarian Guard that way.

Is it a bummer to hit the same combat twice. I think so. Right now is it too much of grind for me, definitely not. This is not indicative of the game always being the same. There are just times where you fill be hunted by a certain enemy or pack of them that you need to deal with. That is how it makes sense thematically.

Side Questing

Now, this is where The Isofarian Guard has a player problem. The game comes with side quests and side quests are a great way to get a whole bunch of resources. Then to use those resources to level up armor, weapons, and characters.

There is one major flaw with this, the game is not meant to have you play every side quest. It is meant, when you need a little boost, to give you that little boost. So players are deciding to over power and over level their characters in The Isofarian Guard. But to do that, you end up grinding a lot of side quests and fights to do that. And as you grind, the more it throws off the balance.

So I think this is a player problem. Players, I get it, want to be powerful in the game. But it creates an experience where the grind is more than what it should be. And also, that the game is easier than it should be. Trying to get ahead in the game is causing more issues than solving.

Upcoming Streams

So, as normal, Wednesday is for campaign games. That means for a little bit longer my plan is to play more Isofarian Guard. I like to play around ten sessions, we might play this longer, to show off the game and how it works. So expect on Wednesday’s to see more of The Isofarian Guard. Streaming time is 8 PM Central on Wednesday.

Then on Monday, this is going to be more of a mixed bag. I still plan on streaming every Monday, and Monday streams are at 9 PM Central. But I think I want to start doing more Top 10 Lists again. And as we wrap up the summer that means it is closer to when I start my Top 100 list. That is going to be on the Monday stream to keep the campaign games going on Wednesday. But I play smaller games, put together lists, or discuss topics on Monday’s. Join me then as well.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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Grove

This is a great little gaming experience. I know I already wrote a review about it, but it’s worth talking about why I like it so much. There are three main reasons that this is an ideal solo game, especially an ideal game to take as a little travel solo game.

Firstly, the game is compact in two ways. One the box is small and pocket sized. But also when you play the game it only takes up a little bit of space. There are other small solo games, like this, that send up more sprawling. Sprawlopolis for example takes up more table space. Which I prefer the compact nature here.

Next the games are quick. For this type of solo game I want to sit down and play the game in a few minutes. In half an hour while chatting and having a interruption from a kid, I got through five games. Without distractions, in that time, I’d have gotten through at least two more.

I also think that the variety of the game is really good. The game is built off of completing the challenges or at least the challenges setting your target score. So it gives you multiple things to think about. Sometimes, with how the cards come out it isn’t worth it to go for those challenges, other times that can make or break weather you win, which is fun.

Upcoming Streams

It’s going to be a different couple of weeks coming up here. Mondays are still going to be games, but it likely won’t be Welcome to the Moon! like I was thinking about. Leading up to Gen Con it’s going to be busy and I might be taking a break the week after Gen Con at least. I plan on streaming the week leading into Gen Con and that might be more Gen Con specific. That will generally be around 8:30 PM central time.

Then on Wednesdays, Isofarian Guard is going to be paused for three weeks. The reason three weeks is that third week I’ll be at Gen Con, and the two weeks leading it, last year I went through the Board Game Geek Gen Con Preview. This Wednesday at 8 PM central I’ll be going through the games to demo. Next week I plan to look at the games for sale. It won’t be my list of my favorites, but just going through the whole list.

The best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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The Isofarian Guard – The Mistake

So let’s talk about why I’m fine making mistakes when I stream a game like The Isofarian Guard. There is a perception among viewers of larger board game channels, I’m probably too small still, that if you make a mistake it’s because you don’t care. That you just rush to get content out. But that is not the case. And it is why I play games the way that I do.

Honesty of Playing Style

Firstly, it’s a more natural way to play games. I dislike playing the first scenario of a game five times to make sure I have everything perfect. That removes the fun of gaming from me. You could even see as I played through this combat the more I did it, the less fun I had, until I noticed my mistake. Why, because it’s the same thing over and over again. There should have been a fail forward mechanic or something.

Everyone Makes Mistakes

And the other reason is while you might not think you make mistakes in games, you do. You just don’t have an audience to catch those mistakes. Making mistakes, learning the mistakes in the rules that you made, questioning stuff as you learn a game are natural parts of playing a game. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake in the rules of a game. And it’s up to you if you even correct it or not when you realize. If it’s more fun with that mistake, keep it in there for you. Warn people, but keep it in.

The issue that can arise with this is when comments are made disparaging content creators, people putting themselves out there. That is something that those people are not doing. Perfection in rules is strived for by all content creators. But, like your own game, it won’t be achieved, so correct out of kindness is helpful and appreciated.

How You Play It

The final reason is that this is how you play it and how I play games that aren’t on streams. Again, no one intentionally makes mistakes. And everyone corrects them when they find them as they go along. But it’s really a better representation of what Nerdologists.com is. It’s about trying new things and seeing what happens. That’s how everyone plays games in real life, so I try and demonstrate real life and real learning curve.

Upcoming Streams

So streaming next week will be different. The 4th of July is going to mess up streaming on Monday because I will be out of town. So no stream on Monday.

Then on Wednesday, I plan on streaming more Isofarian Guard. I say I plan on it because it might not happen. I need to time up getting somethings for streaming because I need to change up my set-up. With a new character being added to the group, how it’s set-up now just isn’t going to work. So I need to create combat zone and map zones for this game to show it off properly which requires a bit more equipment. Upside, that might mean that Chronicles of Drunagor could come back to the table, we’ll see.

The best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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ISS Vanguard Ship Phase

This one is interesting to talk about because I have some thoughts on it. Mainly about how it’s taught. Mostly the thoughts are good on it, but a few times I went looking for clarifications. So let’s get into that negative right now.

The ship phase of the game doesn’t really have a rule book. So you just go through the ship phase and are trying to figure it out from reading on that page. They do a very good job of explaining everything. But it’d be nice, especially for the first time, to run through it differently. Or to have a slightly better walkthrough of what is going on. The ship phase is supposed to be a tutorial itself, but it works, but on ly so well.

Once it became clear as to how it was working, then it moved smoother. And I think in the future it’ll go very smoothly. The system works well. I like that there are elements you are required to do, and then other things that you pick and choose. I know with the areas of the ship, you used to do them all when the game was originally on Gamefound. But I am glad that it changed.

It is also a meaningful section. I think being limited in what you can do is meaningful because now I wonder, what did I miss out on? I did production and research, those were two cool things. But are they worth passing on other areas that will help the ship as well? Or are they worth it for other things that might affect the sips morale that I’ll need to deal with eventually? It is a good question.

Upcoming Streams

Next stream is going to likely be either Roll to the Top or Planet Unknown again on Monday. I really liked Planet Unknown solo so I kind of want to get back to that. But Roll to the Top is a new game in my collection that I want to try. Either way at 8:30 PM Central time on Monday I will be streaming a board game. Who knows, by then it might be a different game that I pick.

And then next Wednesday, it is down to the planet in ISS Vanguard again. You can click the notification bell for the stream here. That is at 8 PM Central like normal. I want to see what a new planet will look like, or the remains of one.

And if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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The Game – Lands of Galzyr

I will be doing a review of this game coming out shortly, probably next week, so I don’t want to dive into that too much. Plus over the past couple of months I basically have written a review on it. But just some final thoughts after playing Lands of Galzyr weekly for 10 weeks in a row.

I enjoy this game a lot. It is a peaceful and relaxing game. And you can see how it speeds up over time as I play it. But with that said, I’m not sad to be putting it aside. Why? I think that Lands of Galzyr is probably best as a once every two weeks or once a month game. And probably even one that is done with a larger group.

Solo vs Group

The solo mode is good and easy to do. So don’t get me wrong, I like that. But I see the story that is missed and I want it. Plus there are times where it would be nice to have someone to help you doing stuff. So that is why I think it might work better with more. Basically, you share the experience.

Complexity

As for why less often, I like how I stream. But Lands of Galzyr is not the most complex game. In fact, it is always more reading than it is checks or moving on the board. Not a knock on the game, it is what it is. But because of that commitment to playing and reading, it is not one that works best to binge. The variety in the game is lower because of the type of game it is. The variety in the story is high, but in the decision making space is lower.

So that is sounding negative. When you read the full review, it is not going to sound that negative. I love the story and the world in this game. It’s engaging, it’s fun, and while I like dark, I don’t always need dark. So it is a nice refreshing experience that is relaxing to play. And that doesn’t sound like high praise, but not that many games can say that.

Upcoming Streams

So this is a weird week to talk about what is coming next. I don’t know what is coming next. I might decide what I want to play prior to next Monday. If I do, next Monday I plan to play a game. If I don’t, then I plan to go over five games and try and make a decision on which to play. Either way, I will stream at 8:30 PM Central on Monday.

Then on Wednesday, I hopefully will be playing a new campaign game. But that depends on me having time to learn the rules and mess around with the game. You notice that I read rules more to start, or check on them, before I am humming along towards the end of my streaming. That is going to happen, I want to know how to play but also show that not everything is easy. So I hope to play a new campaign game. If I don’t, expect to see a revisit of a roll and write or something like that. 8 PM Central time on Wednesday is when I will stream.

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The Game – Splitter

So, this is a roll and write game that came onto my radar I want to say a few months ago. It wasn’t until December that I actually saw it available. Though, it might have been available prior to then, it wasn’t one that I sought out.

Splitter is a pretty basic roll and write, roll two dice and place those numbers. The twist on it comes with how you place them. When you place one on one half of the board, you need to put the other mirrored to it. So one number is always on one side, the other always on the other.

All while you are trying to create sets of numbers, a lone one, or two twos, up to six sixes. All giving you that same number of points. So one for a one, etc. At the end of the game, you add up all the points for sets you complete. And there are star spaces, any set completed on them is worth double points.

The downside to the game is it is random. There is no mitigation on the numbers rolled. So, in the last game, I talk about, I don’t think you could see, rolling a five when I didn’t want to. A group of fives that I play now because of a roll is a group of six fives. That scores no points.

That is a downside I think of the game. Especially when playing solo. I want certain numbers to come up. But there isn’t tension in it, it is a die roll. With more players, I think it might work better. Every late game roll, or more, will carry weight for being great or horrible for players. So I believe there will be more excitement at the table.

Upcoming Streams

So, change to streaming, not to the schedule. The plan for Wednesday is not going to be Lands of Galzyr. That isn’t because it won’t be coming. I plan on starting Lands of Galzyr next week. But wit the equipment on the fritz, the new piece won’t be here in time. So my plan is to play Slay the Spire, or maybe demonstrate some Gloomhaven via Steam.

Monday is going to be another chill stream like this one was. I will have the new equipment by then, so it is going to be testing that out. I hope that it goes smoothly, but I’ll get it figured out. And my plan is another game to play solo. I don’t know which it is going to be yet.

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The Board Games

All three of these games are roll and write games in a series, connected by some basic mechanics, designed by Wolfgang Warsch. The base mechanics of the games, like I said, are similar across the board, but the games each offer their own twist.

The basic mechanic in the game is that you roll your dice, pick one to use, get rid, to a common pool, all the numbers lower than it, and repeat the process until you’ve used three dice, or fewer. Then the other players use a die from the common pool. Then the next player rolls and you repeat that process. Your goal, get as many points as you can.

There are two other things that are always true. The white die is a wild. And if you use the blue die or the white die in the blue section, it’s always the combined total of the white and blue dice. But the white ie you can use anywhere that you want. I guess a third thing, which is could be an afterthought when teaching is the foxes. If you get a fox, at the end of the game, multiply the number of foxes times your lowest scoring section.

Ganz Schon Clever – Doppelt So Clever – Clever Hoch Drei

Let’s talk real quick about each of them. Mainly compare how they work and actually maybe a slight change in my opinion after last nights play.

Ganz Schon Clever

Ganz Schon Clever is maybe the most basic of the games. Which makes sense being the original one that came out. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have combos, it has a lot of them. But Ganz Schon Clever, doesn’t have the more complex sections like some others do. It is basically always simple on how to use the dice. It’s the one that I started with and it’s the one I’d use to teach, even if you like others better in the series.

Doppelt So Clever

Doppelt So Clever has always been the toughest for me and been the lowest of the three for me. Now, I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. Mainly, I think I’m seeing the puzzle better now, and I have some ideas of how I want to handle the game as I play. It definitely ramps up the complexity in the game with basically every section. While some, pink and blue might not be too complex, they offer more to think about.

Clever Hoch Drei

Finally we have Clever Hoch Drei, probably the one that clicked with my fastest and the one that I get the highest score on. A lot of the things just make sense to me as I play them. I didn’t do a great job comboing as I could have last night in the game. Mainly not using the yellow section as effectively as sometimes. But you fill in a whole lot more and get many more combos, it feels like in Clever Hoch Drei.

I think that Doppelt So Clever went up in my estimation last night and Clever Hoch Drei went down. Mainly you can do so much in Clever Hoch Drei that decisions matter a little less. Where as Doppelt So Clever being a tighter game, what you do matters more.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I am streaming my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition – 50 through 41. The video down below. So join me on that journey, then the following Monday, the 31st, I might take off for Halloween. I suspect it’d be cutting it close with podcast, Trick or Treating, and getting a kid into bed.

As for my Wednesday stream, next week my hope is to get Chronicles of Drunagor to the table at least for an unboxing. And I know a I have a few other boxes coming in as well. So I might play Final Girl, or we’ll see what my mystery package coming in might be. But soon I will get Chronicles of Drunagor to the table. And next week might be an unboxing of the game and picking out of characters, actually.

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