How To Play – Lost Ruins of Arnak

The goal Lost Ruins of Arnak is to accumulate as many points as possible. You do this by going up a research track, exploring locations, defeating monsters, and buying cards to put in your deck that will give you abilities and points. You do all of this over five rounds.

The main actions you do on the board are activated by placing out workers. But you only get two workers per round and rounds do not only last two turns per person. While those workers can be used for big pieces of the action, such as exploring a location, gets golden idols – worth points – and then fighting monsters at those locations, also worth points. Much of the game is around pushing up a research track and buying the cards.

The research track, if you make it to the top, is one of the best ways to get points. Though, when everyone knows that and works towards it, the points that you get don’t differ massively. But if you don’t make it to the top, you will be behind. But in game, it mainly gives you additional resources to spend. The cards are where you get more of your additional actions. Buying and playing the cards really gives you an opportunity to create an engine of what you are doing.

What Doesn’t Work

Two things, that at least without the expansion, I feel like don’t work extremely well. The first is how important the research track is. And this is really the main complaint. You need to make it to the top of the research track. If you don’t, you might do really well in other areas, but you will end up behind in points. It is just too much to catch up on. Now, that isn’t to say you can ignore everything else. The points are that much, and like I said, the research track when everyone makes it to the top is less impactful. It’s just very important to make it to the top.

The other thing is maybe more of a personal thing. But I wish that I had one more round. Granted, you’d be pushing less on the research track and optimizing for that if you had one more round. But with one more round, I feel like I could just have that one more great turn where I am using all of those cool cards that I put in my deck more than once, maybe twice. I say this knowing that most likely what would happen is I’d want another round. So five is solid for the game to keep it from going too long. But I wouldn’t mind six.

What Works

Deck Building

The deck building in this game is meaningful. And I really appreciate that. In a lot of bigger deck building games, yes it matters, but you end up with so many cards, and cycle through it so many times, you can buy whatever you can afford, for the most part. A thinner optimized deck might be better, but if you get points on cards, might as well add in another card that gives you points. Here it really matters because you don’t get that many and you don’t see them too many times.

I also like that with the deck building the cards you buy go on the bottom of the deck. So, with a thinner deck and drawing up to five cards in hand each turn, you see cards fast. I buy two cards on turn one, I know I’ll see them and can use them on turn two. Not having that delay of waiting for them to get shuffled in, and then they could be shuffled to the bottom of the deck is really nice.

Items and Relics

And I like with the relics that you get to use them right away and then they go to the bottom of the deck. Thematically, if you get supplies, they are shipped in, so you get them soon but not right away. If you get a relic, you’ve found it in the ruins. So you can use that right away. But as a trade off it uses your explore tokens to get it, which you need for the map, and has a cost for future uses.

Worker Placement

Finally, with the worker placement, I like how that grows with options throughout the game. At the start of the game you put your workers on camps to just gain resources and then hopefully you can explore fast. The locations that you explore cost a bit more to activate in future rounds, but you can activate them again, or anyone can. So now you are able to go to those spots as well and activate them. Which probably give you more resources or a variety of resources.

I also like with the worker placement that you only have two. More workers certainly could give you a ton more to do, but with the tight number of spaces to start, you’d have to add in more. And it makes how and when you use them even more impactful. If you can find a way to move a worker through an item or a relic, that is huge. And it is a really interesting part of the puzzle of the game as to how you can utilize your workers.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for someone pretty early into hobby gaming. I wouldn’t introduce hobby board games to someone with Lost Ruins of Arnak. But if they have played some other games, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and the likes, I don’t think this game is too bad to pick up.

Or it is for someone who might not be that interested in worker placement. I am someone who thinks worker placement is fine, but thematically not many of them interest me. Lost Ruins of Arnak has that fun Indiana Jones type them on a worker placement game. So that intrigued me more so, and with deck building pulled me in. I think it can be an entry point or a worker placement that is easier to get people to play.

Final Thoughts on Lost Ruins of Arnak

I really enjoy Lost Ruins of Arnak. And I suspect that I will enjoy it more as I add in the expansion stuff. It changes up the board for the research track. And it gives you variable player powers, which is something I really like. I like being unique as I play. But even without that, I really enjoy the puzzle of the game.

My negative of the research track is less around it not being interesting. The research track is pretty fun. It is more that you need to do the research track and get to the top to really have that much of a shot at winning the game. But, like I said, everyone needs to do that, which means that the points aren’t too different and it does come down to everything else in the game.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B

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What Is Crowdfunding?

This might be too basic, you might know what crowdfunding is already, but let’s talk about it quick. Crowdfunding is basically getting other people to buy into or invest in your product or idea before it even exists. This can be anything, really that they want and there are a few different platforms, for board games it’s generally Kickstarter and Gamefound.

The big thing with this is that technically you are backing, supporting your money, only if the project funds. So when you select to back a project, only once that project funds do you get charged. Then the money raised is used to produce that product.

Is It A Scam?

While there certainly have been scams run via Kickstarter, it is generally not. Especially in the board gaming side of things. Even the other side of things where projects might fail to deliver. Most of the time when something fails to deliver, it’s because the product didn’t work as expected. Board games, that’s less of an issue, though games with apps, especially for a person new to the industry, might come out buggy or take a long time to come out.

Is It A Store?

Now, some companies do use crowdfunding like a store. They have their products ready to go and can get them out to you in a few months or less. This is not common. Most often you are helping fund the development and design of the game, and then also the manufacturing.

Making a board game is not the most expensive thing, if you don’t have minis, but it is certainly not cheap to make a lot of them. So even established companies often need the money up front to be able to produce a game in a large enough quantity to put into retail.

What To Look For In A Good Crowdfunding Campaign?

Well, let’s first talk about the two different types of people using crowdfunding. The more established companies use it as a pre-order system, almost. Game design and development might be going on, but they have a solid idea of what the game is going to be.

The other type is the passion project. This is going to be from a small designer or a single person. It is an idea that they have put a lot of their own spare time and effort into. This is not going to be as polished when it comes to Kickstarter or Gamefound. They need to get their art, and graphic design, often, done with the money raised from crowdfunding.

Created and Backed Count

Every person has to start somewhere with crowdfunding. But generally I am a bit more hesitant on a first time creator. That’s now always fair, but it means that they need to make up for it in other ways. I’m not sure if Gamefound shows how many created there, but I hope that they do.

One of the ways a new creator can make up for it is by having backed projects previously, and board game projects. That can help you know that they know the hobby well, and what type of game they are apt to make. If they mainly have helped support light party games, expect that type of game to be made.

Polish Look Of Page

This again varies from a passion project to a big company. For a big company, they have a graphic design team. Or they know people and have people to work with. I want the page to look polished. I want to see renders of what the board and components are going to look like. And ideally I want shipping numbers and some prototype previews or playthroughs.

For a smaller publisher or a passion project, I want it to look like you know what you are talking about. Don’t sell me something grandiose that seems too good to be true. If you say stuff like “the next thing like [game]” or “the first” or “most innovative”. Those are red flags to me. Those things tell me that you probably have designed this for your group or only gotten feedback from your friends. And that you might not know board games as well as you think.

Consistent Updates Throughout Project

Now, this one again there is some leeway for more established companies. But throughout the project, I do expect consistent updates, whether you’re a large content creator or a small one. Be engaged with the project while it is going on. An update every couple of days at least. Let people know that you appreciate them. Give them updates or more details on your plan for your game. If you’re doing stretch goals, talk about those stretch goals.

Game Rules/Game Play

And the biggest thing, I need to know how your game plays. And this is for big companies and small companies. I want to know how your game plays so that I know if it’s a game for me. If you say that it has innovative mechanics, you better tell me about them in detail.

For bigger companies, yes you have minis in the game. I don’t care. I want to know how your game plays. Looking at cool minis is great, but if the game isn’t, then I want to know before I put $100+ into the game.

And for passion projects, don’t take your idea to crowdfunding, take your game. You won’t get paid for an idea, and yes, that means work before you have the money to pay yourself to do the work. But I want a good idea of what your game is going to be and how it is going to play.

For both groups, design and development can and will happen. For me, that is expected. What I want is a good idea of what the game is going to be. And if you need to massively change the game, I want the opportunity to back out at that point. Which I realize isn’t possible for all designers, especially on passion projects. So come to the table with a plan.

Benefit of Backing

What are you getting as a benefit for backing it now versus waiting for retail. Sometimes the answer might be that it isn’t coming to retail so don’t expect to get it then. Other times, it might come to retail, but there is an exclusive expansion, miniature, deck of bonus cards, character, freebie, whatever it might be. And is that worth it to you. Know that a crowdfunding game that goes to retail often ends up being cheaper there.

Final Thoughts

The good news is that board games rarely fail to deliver. That doesn’t mean that all the games are winners. There is a reason that the game play and rules section is the longest thing that I talk about. If I don’t know what your game is going to be, then I’m going to be hard pressed to back it.

And as a new person to crowdfunding, all of those the things are a decent metric. I do think that tomorrows topic, tempering FOMO is going to be useful as well when thinking about a board game on crowdfunding. But really look to see what the core of the game is, see what previewers, reviewers, and more are saying. Find a play of the game to watch. Even if the rules are changing, get an idea of what it is going to be.

What game are you thinking about crowdfunding? Or what was the first one that you backed? Let me know in the comments below.

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Two Rating Systems But One

So when I rate games on Nerdologists.com, I rate them with a letter grade scale. Then on Board Game Geek, I rate them numerically, since that is BGG’s scale. But I really use both of them as the same thing. I started with my own letter grades simply because that’s how I think of them more so. Lately, I think of grades or ratings on games in both.

So, while my grades might not always seem to align perfectly with the number scale, the two are meant to be the same. Or if there is a larger discrepancy Board Game Geek is more up to date of the two. I don’t go back and change a review article of a game increases or decreases for me.

What Do The Different Letters/Numbers Mean?

10

This generally equates to a game that I give an A+. Or it might be a game with an A rating but is really close to getting an A+.

But what does it mean? Generally these are the games that I love the most, not generally, but specifically. And generally, that means that I want to play them all the time. Now some, like Gloomhaven, I don’t know when or if I’ll come back to it. But that extensive experience that I had with it is that memorable and enjoyable. The same with other campaign games, I want to play them, but once I’m done, I might never come back.

9

This is going to be my A games. Again, these are games that I basically always want to play. I really enjoy them. The main difference between a 9 and a 10is just maybe, how memorable they are. Or how much each play can feel different. 9’s are going to be a bit less epic in my memory of the game.

8

This will be A- and B+’s in my letter grading. And they are a bit lower because I do see some flaw with the game. Not one that will keep me from playing the game, but something that might have me play it less. Or it is a smaller game, as well. Something like Arboretum is an amazing game, but since it’s not as epic as a game like Aeon’s End, for example, it gets a slightly lower grade. This is where a big bulk of the games are going to end up for me.

7

A 7 is going to be a game that is a B or B-. Fun games and one’s that I’d play, but now we’re getting to games that I’d be less likely to pull off the shelf myself. The example of this would be Air, Land and Sea. It is a good two player game where you fight for control in three theaters of war by playing out cards. It is similar to Hanamikoji, which I like a lot better. Hanamikoji is a 10 for me, and I would always pull it off the shelf before Air, Land, and Sea, but Air, Land, and Sea is still a game that I’d play if someone else wanted to.

6

6’s are going to be that C+ to C range when I give out a grade. Generally they are games that I can have fun with, but they aren’t ones that give me the same range of choice of other games, I feel. These are often, for me, gateway style games at this point, but not the really good ones that offer depth and strategy. Again, not a game that I’d say no to playing, but most 6’s leave the collection pretty quickly.

5

Following the scale, this is a C- of a game. Slightly below overage game or just doesn’t work for me for some reason. Often times there is a lot more luck in these games. Or the game is more about the laughs, which has limited replay value as well. The game does what it says but not enough to interest me to continue playing it.

4

With four, I think this often is where I stop wanting to play the game again. Though, there are some fours, for me, that I’ll come back to. This is a D+ game for me. And I think this is the spot, often, where a game promises something but fails to fully deliver on it. So, something like Codenames is a D+ for me, or a 4. Mainly because it promises to be a party game, but isn’t. And I don’t get any additional benefits like feeling clever from it.

3

D rated games go here. 3’s are games that I just find boring to play. Dominion, it might be a great game, but I find it boring to play, and I don’t want to anymore. And I find that there is a limited amount of strategy to the game. If you are good at Dominion, you spot the best combination and build that engine. The game doesn’t offer the variety to do well.

2

This is going to be a D- game. If I rate it a two, I really don’t like the game. It might do one thing, but that one thing isn’t that interesting. Exploding Kittens or Dr. Eureka are two 2’s for me. Exploding Kittens feels derivative and boring. Dr. Eureka is basically a puzzle with a speed element to it and dexterity thrown in. It just feels like a puzzle you give a kid, not a game.

1

These are straight up F’s for me. I don’t think a one is worth playing. Often times a game will get a one because it leans on it being a joke. For example, Exploding Kitten: NSFW Decks. It is just not an interesting thing to take a boring game and pretend that it’s now risqué. Actually adding in NSFW content takes a bad game and makes it worse. Or a game that is boring. Concept, for me, is a game that just adds in boredom. The game drags and it is just players thinking on something that masquerades as a fun social game.

Board Game Ratings Final Thoughts

Now, your ratings on a given game will differ from mine. That is why I try and give ratings for gamers and for casual players. I don’t care how great I think Gloomhaven might be, it won’t work that well for a casual gamer. Even the box, just the size of it, might immediately push them away. I think if they can learn it, it’ll be something they don’t find too complex, but there’s a massive barrier to entry.

And even my estimates for a gamer or a casual player, those are going to vary for each person individual. What I hope by giving a rating is that you can start to figure out how you align with my perspective on games. I want you to see what I like or dislike about a game, but then also have a quicker reference, than just reading a review, to know how you’d compare.

How do you rate board games? Do you do a letter grade, 1-10, 1-5? Do you use decimals, or do you not really have a grading system? Let me know in the comments below.

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My Board Game Resolution

To not pre-order a board game. Before we get into details let’s talk about keeping up.

Why Keep Up With Board Games?

I think I talked about this not that long ago. Or I talked about in the context of not shaming people for having unplayed games in their collection. Because while board gaming is a hobby, aka something I do, it is also a collection, something that I own.

There are tons of board games that come out every year. ANd a limited amount of time to play them. Some games, too, are just games that you want to own, for the collection. For me, I again talked about grail games. Games that I want to own. Sometimes it’s a game that I just want to own, like Battlestar Gallactica. Will I ever play my copy, I’m not sure I would. But it’s a rarer game that I really like.

And then new games, you don’t know what you like or don’t like. So get any game that sounds interesting to you. Now, for some people that isn’t an option. For me it isn’t an option. I’m starting to see The Return To Dark Tower show up for Kickstarter backers. I wish I’d been able to back it. But when I do have so spare money, it’s fun to get a new game, whatever might be hot.

But, on the flip side, while it is a collection as well as a hobby for me. I don’t want my hobby to just collect dust. I want to play the games which means that sometimes it’s better to wait to get a game when I’m ready to play it.

Let’s talk aout some examples/exceptions.

Space Base

People have called it more of a gamers Machi Koro, a game that I liked but didn’t stick around for me. If there is more game to it or more variability, I’m interested in it. But Space Base really isn’t going in and out of print. So maybe it was on sale when I got it but I didn’t need to buy it when I did.

Solomon Kane

This could be a lot of different bigger campaign style games. I didn’t need to get Solomon Kane, I’d just heard good things about it. So when I found a well priced copy on eBay I snatched it up quickly. Now, it’s not even all of the Kickstarter that there was, but it’s still enough content to keep me going for ages. And that was an opportunity for a game I wanted, and I knew I wanted, where I likely couldn’t do better.

The main difference the opportunity to get them in the future. It’s not a 100% fair comparison, but it also works for harder to find games or used games. Tannhauser, I don’t know when I’ll play it, but when I saw it in the wild, I bought it. So let’s get back to the resolution.

The Board Game Resolution

Now, there might be an exception to this resolution, but I’ll lay it out better here. This doesn’t include Kickstarter. And if there is a game that I own and love, I’m looking at you Detective A Modern Crime Board Game, I might pre-order something. Plus, Detective expansions pre-ordered come with more than just the game.

On the flip side, my resolution is not to pre-order a new game or an easy to find game when it comes out. If it doesn’t come with anything extra, I can wait for it to come out. If I missed it on the first print run, that means it’ll have a second print run, and and I can get it when I’m ready to play it.

Now, why is Kickstarter or Gamefound different?

Well, three reasons. I will sometimes, Call to Adventures Origins, for example, not back a game. Why, because what has been added to the game that is Kickstarter only isn’t enough. I can pick it up at retail, when and if I’m ever that excited to play it. So this one is like just buying a board game ahead of time. It doesn’t offer enough to take my money and then wait. But some games, Marvel United as example, come with so much extra on Kickstarter it’s worth backing.

Some games also won’t come to retail. Solomon Kane is an example of one that I wish that I’d backed and I was glad to find. Why, it won’t come to retail. It is just too big, even in the base two boxes, it is massive. You unboxed them on Malts and Meeples, you can watch that below, but I’d back that game on Kickstarter just to make sure I got it.

And finally, sometimes I just want to support the company. It might be a company that I really like their games. It might not have any of the extra bells and whistles that you expect from crowdfunding, but I’ll still back it. Grove is an example of this, or Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road. I like both those companies. Will I be able to get those games in retail, most likely. But I want to support them.

Final Thoughts

There was a lot that I put in here. About why you should or shouldn’t buy new games, about why I’m not going to pre-order anything. And really, this is going to be more than that. My goal is to buy fewer games this year in general. I want to wait until I hear a review, or watch a game play of it to decide.

So will I still get a bunch of games, most likely. Will I back games on Kickstarter and Gamefound, for sure. Will some of them be duds even though I was extremely excited about them, for sure. Or at least they’ll be duds for me. And all of that is okay. What I want is to just be more mindful about the retail games that I purchase this year.

Do you have any board game buying or playing resolutions this year? Maybe you want to go to your first GenCon or Origins or PaxU, let me know what they are in the comments below.

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Review Drift – The Basics

The idea for this is that reviewers don’t generally play games like the general public. They either play a game a ton of times in a short period, which isn’t like most gamers, or they play a game only a few times before they form their opinion on it. I tend to fall more into that latter camp. However, even with that, I also don’t try to force timely reviews.

And that is really why there is this thing where reviewers and how they play games that tends to be so divergent from what most gamers do. If you want to experience a full game, like Tainted Grail and put out a relevant review you are going to need to play 50 hours in two weeks of just one game. Or on the flip side, you might have played four games of it, which is 10-15 hours or so, but you haven’t experienced the full story so there could be something you strongly dislike later.

So Do Reviews and Ratings Matter?

I would say that they still do matter, but I think it puts some of the onus on the consumer to understand how reviews and ratings are done. Let me talk about my process. If I want to put out something immediately after getting a game I’ll do a few things. First, I might do an unboxing, it tells you nothing about the game except what the components are like. Next when I’ve played it once or twice I might do a Beyond the Box Cover article. This is basically some first thoughts but not a full review. Then I’ll do my TableTopTakes when I’ve had more time to play with it and more time to sit with it.

From what I’m doing I’m hoping to create a more natural experience for getting a game reviewed. Even with what I do, though, I will push to review a hot game faster. Generally those games are easier to get to the table multiple times. And with stuff like Tainted Grail, I’ve reviewed that and then come back to it again, because I’m further into the game. I don’t believe you need to have experienced the whole game to have a strong understanding of what you like or dislike about it.

But yes, reviews and ratings still do matter, that’s what I’m trying to get at.

Why?

Because without them everyone would need to get a ton of games and play them all to be able to form an opinion on them. Now, I love to get games and play them. So I’m always going to do that. But because of reviewers and previewers like The Dice Tower, BoardGameCo, Quackalope, and GloryHoundd, I’ve found a ton of games. I’ve also gotten information on games that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. This is through reviews, previews, and playthroughs, like I’ve said.

It actually makes it easier for me to determine what game I would want to get. I can pick reviewers to watch who match my taste in games. Let’s look at GloryHoundd and DrGloryHogg, both on the GloryHoundd channel, when they do a playthrough of a roll and write, I pay more attention to how GloryHoundd is enjoying it. I know she tends to like roll and writes and I tend to like them as well. So if she’s enjoying it, I know it’s one to look at.

On the flip side, if it’s a bigger story driven, dice chucking game, I know GloryHoundd doesn’t like dice rolling. So she’s probably not going to enjoy it as much. I also know that DrGloryHogg is much more interested in that style of game, so I’ll pay attention to his reactions to the game.

But for me, as a consumer (and kind of reviewer) it helps me know what to pick up. And I don’t need to look at every game. I instead find the right reviewers and content creators whose tastes align with my own. When they like a game, that is a signal for me to checkout that game, to checkout their review, other reviews, read up on Board Game Geek and more.

How Do You Find Reviewers?

Honestly, it comes down to reading and watching their content. To do that, find a game you already like and watch reviews. Do the reviewers line up with your tastes? Are they talking about the same things you like in a game or not?

Now dissenting opinions are fine, but know the reviewer. I’m going to go back to Tainted Grail. No Pun Included gave it a scathing review. That got them a ton of views, but I didn’t need to watch it. Why, because I’ve watched enough of their reviews to know I don’t always agree with them. And to know that Tainted Grail, by it’s nature, is not their type of game. They are the ones who powered through the whole game as well in two weeks or so to make their review. That is unnatural for a game like Tainted Grail and is going to taint the review for that reason.

So, negative isn’t bad, just know how they got to that opinion. Know the reviewers tastes before you go into a game. The same with a positive review. If someone is a heavy euro gamer and does a glowing review of Castles of Burgundy, that doesn’t mean the game is for me. And I know Castles of Burgundy isn’t a heavy euro game, but from someone who loves euro games. I don’t love euro games that well, that means that it’s probably not a game for me just by that nature. Even though that reviewer loved it, a review from a reviewers who tastes match more with mine would matter more to me.

And Are Ratings Good?

This is where it’s more of a question? Ratings aren’t a bad thing, but let’s talk about what a rating means? Is a 10 a perfect game with no flaws. Or is it a game that I’d never say no to and I want to get other people to play and love as much as I do? Is a 1 a game that is completely broken or a game that doesn’t work for me. Would I keep a game that is a 5 in my collection, is a 5 just an average game?

Ratings are actually harder to say they are good than reviews. Simply because people use them differently. Board Game Geek has their 1 to 10 rating scale, that’s great. But is a 7 a game that I like and will pull of the shelf and play, maybe? Or is it a game that someone else can pull off the shelf and I will gladly play it, but I might not pull it off my shelf? Or is a 3 a game that I’d never play again?

You can see how ratings are more confusing. There is nuance to how people do them. And BoardGameCo talked about that. he also talked about setting up a situation where its almost a Rotten Tomato style pass or fail setting. It’s either fresh or rotten. Now, is that completely useful, maybe not, but it’s a good/interesting metric to have for a game. I might spend some time trying to create something like that, it’s to be determined, but “ll keep people informed.

Who are your go to reviewers?

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Pros

• Campaign
• Miniatures
• Price
• 3 Game Modes
• Aesthetic

Cons

• PvP
• 3 Game Modes
• Shipping
• Change in Miniature Size
• Add-Ons

The Page

The page navigates really well. Some of this is that Lazy Squire Games has previously crowdfunded two games. This is their first time on Gamefound though. And some of why this page is really so easy to navigate and find information on is because of how Gamefound is built. Lazy Squire Games, though, uses it to the best of their ability.

Honestly, the more stuff is on Gamefound the fewer negatives I’ll have with pages, because I don’t have to go searching for the game play section, that is linked on the side. So to give more props to Lazy Squire Games, though, they gives you a lot of game play information. They don’t shy away from it and just show you minis, which are amazing. And they do a good job of showing all three game modes.

The thing that I will ding them on most is the add-ons. They do have a few add-ons, but they could really leverage how Gamefound works to make it a whole lot more ala carte. They have a pledge for the base game, Lavon Rising is an expansion, and that’s great, but any sort of big box add-on should be an add-on as well as maybe a slightly discount if you pledge for a lot of it. ISS Vanguard and some others have done a great job of splitting stuff into add-ons, this doesn’t.

The Game

The game itself looks like a lot of fun. And the three game modes looks like they are well thought out. I like two of them a lot. The Hunt mode is like a mini campaign for the players, and then there is an expansion that adds a fully immersive campaign. Then, there is player versus player. Which I have no interest in that mode. I have my skirmish game, Super Fantasy Brawl, and while I’d likely try it, I wouldn’t back Wild Assent for the skirmish mode.

I also like in the Hunt mode how it talks about supporters. This idea that you have people you can recruit to your camp who give you static abilities. It’s a cool and thematic way that I feel like you can improve a character uniquely. A lot of games give you ways to boost your character and they can be really unique, but to give more of a common pool to do that is very cool.

Back or Brick

But, let’s get down to it, is this game a Back or a Brick for me? It is going to be a Brick. Now, Wild Assent has a lot of great reviews. That is one of the advantages of backing it now, but there are a few things that throw me off.

Firstly, the minis have changed sizes, so people who bought the original will now have different sized minis or get a discount. Secondly, I’d want the base game and campaign expansion only, and that’s probably just under $300. That is too steep with game and shipping. I get that the campaign is a lot of work, but I would imagine they can leverage a lot of what is already in the base box.

Now, if you have the money to throw at this, like I said, it has a lot of very good reviews. And if you want that smaller style campaign from The Hunt, which is tempting to me, you can get just the base box for about $165 to be shipped to the US. Even that seems a little bit steep to me, but for a proven game, not too bad and there are stretch goals so the value should end up being there.

But, is this game a Back or a Brick for you?

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So besides the cute title, what am I getting at in an article about spoilers?

Part of me wants to try and define a set of rules for when something is still a spoiler or not. When has it been around long enough that it’s fair game and when should you talk in hushed tones about something.

This comes up with Avengers: Endgame coming out in a week basically and people, for good reason, not wanting to be spoiled on what happens. It also comes up right now because there have been massive spoilers posted on Twitter, including leaked footage at this point time, and it’s still just over a week away.

I’ve defined a little bit of what a spoiler is, but let’s nail down a definition.

A spoiler is an element of a disseminated summary or description of any piece of fiction that reveals any plot elements which threaten to give away important details. Typically, the details of the conclusion of the plot, including the climax and ending, are especially regarded as spoiler material. It can also be used to refer to any piece of information regarding any part of a given media that a potential consumer was not intended to know beforehand. Because enjoyment of fiction depends a great deal upon the suspense of revealing plot details through standard narrative progression, the prior revelation of how things will turn out can “spoil” the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced.

Wikipedia

That’s a pretty long definition from Wikipedia there, but I think it covers it really well. To cut that down, it is spoiling anything related to the plot that is shared with the consumer of the plot by an outside point prior to the consumer getting to that point of the plot. Generally, I think that does spoil the anticipation for something knowing information about it head of time.

By that definition, technically any time someone is consuming that plot for the first time, no matter when the plot was created, you can spoil it for the person. However, in order for people to be able to converse and discuss the book, movie, show, audio drama, whatever it might be, you can’t worry indefinitely about spoiling the plot for people. I think that is where the tricky point in setting up rules around spoilers is, because, the joke of Bruce Willis seeing dead people in The Sixth Sense is actually a spoiler for me, but I don’t care, and probably a spoiler for some others, but because of how long ago that movie came out, that has to be fair game at some point in time to discuss.

Let’s talk about two upcoming/ongoing things and what sort of time frame they have on spoilers. The two things are Avengers: Endgame and then Game of Thrones. Both of these have a massive focus in the public eye, and because of that there will be spoilers but more so, there will be a ton of people wanting to talk about them. So how do you handle talking about things like that?

Firstly, I would always ask if everyone is caught up on Game of Thrones (or any sort of show) or has seen the movie before diving into the discussion. And this is talking about the immediate time frame. Especially close to when the episode or movie has come out, because some people aren’t able to see it immediately, even if they do really care about the story. And then respect that if people haven’t seen it or read it yet.

Next, I would set aside space and time when you can talk about it. You won’t be able to talk about it with everyone, but create a time, with people who have seen it at a mainly private location to talk about it. There’s always the temptation to go out after watching a movie and grab drinks and talk about it, you will spoil something for someone one. It is important to discuss and talk about pieces of media, but be considerate of where you do that, even if everyone in your group is up for talking about it, those around you might not be, and in that short time frame, it’s very possible that you will spoil something for someone else.

This one is especially true in movie theaters. I haven’t had it happen, but I have heard of it happening. Someone coming in for the next showing has the end of the movie spoiled by someone leaving. Wait until you are in your car before talking about it. If you can’t contain your excitement with the movie, talk about it generally. “That was amazing.” or “That was underwhelming” are fine, but saying that Captain America kissed Wonder Woman as they flew the Millennium Falcon into at the Reaver ship and just escaped the explosion by hopping into the TARDIS and going to Vulcan, just a bit too detailed. However, if I heard someone saying that when leaving Avengers: Endgame, that would be hilarious.

Finally, do give it some time before talking about it freely. Something like Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame, I would say when the DVD/Blu-Ray’s come out for each of them respectively, then they are fair game to talk about. At that point in time, someone who couldn’t make it to the theater, for whatever reason, is going to have more options to watch it and less excuses for having not watched it. Even then, I would still be respectful and keep an eye out for people who might not have seen it yet, because there are plenty of reasons why someone might not have seen a movie yet.

What I didn’t talk about in here was social media and online. How do you deal with spoilers then? For social media, I’d say it’s simple, don’t post spoilers publicly for the movie/show until it’s after the DVD/Blu-Ray is out. There isn’t a good way to really tag them as spoilers so that people can avoid them. On forums, I know one that I’m on will have two threads. One for general thoughts on the movie, and another for spoiler filled thoughts. I even, in my review of Avengers: Infinity War, did a non-spoiler and spoiler review, and I’ll be doing the same for Avengers: Endgame. And one important thing will be for me to remember to put enough header section at the top so that in article blurbs, spoilers aren’t shown.

So how do you deal with spoilers? Do you have any additional rules that I haven’t talked about? Do you think you should always ask before spoiling something no matter how long ago it was?

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