Is Ganz Schon Clever Solvable?

I like Ganz Schon Clever a lot, but I think for some people it might have a bit of a shelf life. Why, because Ganz Schon Clever might be solvable. What do I mean by that, I think that Ganz Schon Clever likely has an ideal way to get an ideal score in the game. Or at least to score consistently well, there might be another strategy that is better, but there is one that is consistently good. I never got it on this stream, nor will I go over it here, you need to find it out.

But that is the concern about a game like this, I think, for some people. Once you’ve played it a number of times, it is going to be one that there is a right answer to. I think, that for some people, this is going to get the game on their shelf, to solve the puzzle, then off their shelf once they do that. But it hasn’t left mine yet, is there a reason for that?

Firstly, I think some of it is that I just like the simplicity and the combinations of this game. When I sit down and play it, I need to think about what I am doing. But because I know my strategy, I don’t need to spend a lot of brain power on it. So it’s that nice balance of a game where I can chat through it or use it to clear my head. So I believe that is some of why it hasn’t left my colleciton.

I also enjoy trying to solve the puzzle. It’s like putting together a puzzle versus having their very dynamic every changing game. I know the end results that I want to get in Ganz Schon Clever. But the question is, will I be able to get those results in time? Or is this going to be a game where I just miss what I want. And will the dice let me, and rerolls let me, fill in what I need?

But that is not going to be the right reasons for everyone. Do you feel like it is too solvable?

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. This upcoming Wednesday I’m back to my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition the following week for 30 through 21.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies or For Northwood, which was on the list today.

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 Game – Mass Transit

Let’s talk a bit about Mass Transit because I’m not quite ready to do a full review on it yet. But there are elements that stand out to me, and I was wondering, after we won handily at Gen Con, if this is a game that would hold up. I say handily, we were down to the last card or two. But there was a comfort level that we were set-up well to always keep our travelers moving.

Last night, it is clear, was not the same thing happening. Certain elements of Mass Transit need to workout for you to win, and some of that is how you play the game. The other part is an element of luck. Now, the luck in the game is able to be mitigated. I choose which cards to play or not play on a turn. Yes, some card must join a route or be used to move a passenger on a turn. But how many I play is up to me.

Winning Cooperative Games

And, personally, I like it when a game doesn’t offer me too many wins. A cooperative game, in my opinion, is meant to be hard. Do I want to win? Yes, I want to win. But if I fail to win, I want it to feel like I am close. And I prefer to feel like I am close and lose than to feel like I win fairly easily every time. Or even that I win too often.

If I win too often, I question if it is luck or not. Here, because I lose closely, I feel like I can play better. Yes, there is luck in Mass Transit. And that luck is capable to changing how a game goes. But as I discuss above, I think there is strategy to mitigate that. And I need to do a better job of that versus an issue with the game.

Upcoming Streams

So let us talk about what is coming up next. On Wednesday, The Isofarian Guard is back to the table. Well, it never left the table, but I will stream it again. And that is at 8 PM Central Time. Join me then if you can to see how that adventure goes now that I am out of the prologue.

And on next Monday, I plan on streaming another game. I think I own a few new games from Gen Con that I can play solo. Not all of the games I got work for solo, but some of them do. So my plan is to continue to explore those games. And that is at 9 PM Central Time on Malts and Meeples.

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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My City Roll and Build

We’ve talked about it several times on the stream and in the articles as to how it compares to the main My City game. I will just add, it makes me want to come back to that game and play more. But I own three campaign roll and write games. I have played, counting this one, two of them. It is possibly I will pick the third one for the next thing I stream on Mondays.

But how does My City Roll and Build compare to the other campaign game?

Progression

Let’s start off with the progression that this has. The other game that I’m talking about is Paper Dungeons, which I also played through on Malts and Meeples. But My City Roll and Build is a game with more progression. You unlock things, additional scoring or rules, as you go, so the story and game feels like it progresses. In Paper Dungeons, there is no progression. You start in one place, there is story between things, but you don’t progress.

However, neither has a ton of progression. In both of the games, you play them out and you don’t get better at anything. My City Roll and Build, new things get added, which is progression. But, you play the exact same way, no better or worse, as the game progresses.

Epic Nature

And neither again really leans too much into this. My City Roll and Build is not an epic game. Paper Dungeons tries to be a bit more epic. But because there is no progression, each story runs the same way. You venture into a dungeon, fight monsters, and then repeat with different monsters. That is the epic nature of the game.

But that is overall more epic than My City Roll and Build. There a church is added, okay. Now there is more water than before, also okay. Or you build over forest now. None of these changes really supply that much of a different feel in the game. And you don’t need it to be epic, but for a campaign, I expect more from both, though mainly Paper Dungeons because it can promise more.

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday at 8:30 PM Central time it is going to be playing more My City Roll and Build. I’m enjoying it and I want to know what the next things that are added are. It’s not a legacy game, but it feels like the legacy game it is based off of. So join me for the last chapter next week.

I did not make time for learning Isofarian Guard. I have two days off next week leading up to the stream. There is time set aside in that for me to learn the rules. So next week it will be Isofarian Guard time. That means this week I am going to be playing a different solo game. Possibly Super Mega Lucky Box which I just played again recently. So join me to see what game will hit the table at 8:00 PM Central on Wednesday.

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 Sessions

This isn’t a breakdown of all of the previous sessions, you can check those out over on Malts and Meeples. And I will try and organize things soon over there so that there are playlists that you can go through. But I want to talk about the two phases and what to expect in a gaming session of ISS Vanguard.

How I play it on stream is different than how most people will play it. Most people will probably do a ship phase and a planetary exploration in one evening. And I also think that the speed which I play at is something else to note. Your game sessions, are going to be longer.

Combined Phases

Firstly, the ship phase and planet phase likely will be together. You won’t want to sit down and just do the ship phase and spend an hour doing that but then end up with it being mainly the bookkeeping side of things. Maybe you’ll want to sit down and do a planet by itself, if it takes longer, but not a ship phase.

I also think that in some planet situations, take Brimstone for example, I went back there twice. Why, because it made sense. And I don’t know if I would want to leave and then come back in a whole new sit down session if I weren’t play it on stream the way that I am.

Decision Making

The other thing is that I make decisions quickly. This is generally true in my gaming but very true for ISS Vanguard. There are moments where I slow down, but mainly I make a decision and I complete the actions. Multiplayer is going to take longer. You will discuss what you want to try and do in a round.

What does this all mean? It is just fair warning that your sessions will be longer. And that is fine and expected. Just know that when it comes to ISS Vanguard there will be differences in how you experience the game.

Upcoming Streams

Like I said, ISS Vanguard will be wrapping up here pretty soon. I think. I still love what the game is doing. But the next two weeks for sure will be ISS Vanguard and we’ll see where the story and adventure takes us. 8 PM Central Time on Wednesdays. Though the easiest way to know is by subscribing and clicking that notification bell to know when I put up something new.

And then on Mondays I stream at 8:30 PM normally. I missed this past week because we had to adjust for podcast recording. But the plan is to be back and I want to play Skytear Horde. So expect to see that one getting to the table. And eventually after that a playthrough of My City – Roll and Build as an upcoming stream.

And, again, 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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Planet Unknown

Sometimes I pass on a board game and then realize that I really want it. Planet Unknown was on Kickstarter a little while ago and it looked like fun. But the main gimmick of the game was some polyomino pieces that were in a lazy susan. And how all of that worked, it was a bit confusing on the page.

Then Planet Unknown came out and people started talking about. And really enjoying this game that is fairly light and fairly thinky all at the same time. It falls into that camp, like I’ve talked about before and Tom Vasel talks about, of quick, snappy turns. Basically that the game does one thing or a clear thing on your turn, it’s a good decision, but it isn’t bogged down. Planet Unknown kind of does that, but definitely gives you a lot to think about.

How the game mainly works by going up on tracks. To do that, you need to put down terraforming tiles on the planet. And then the area that you terraform will push you up on tracks for civilization, biomass, water, recon, or technology. In multiplayer people pick what piece they get to place, or the person whose turn it is. In solo that lazy susan just rotates and determines for you.

It’s a big change that removes some choice. But it’s a big change that then speeds up the game because I don’t have a choice of 12 tiles to pick from. I pick from two. So Planet Unknown is probably a 45-60 minute game multiplayer, less maybe once people know the rules. I got it easily done in half an hour while I was chatting.

Upcoming Streams

So on Wednesday at 8 PM Central, I’ll be playing more ISS Vanguard from Awaken Realms. We’re onto the ship phase and will be setting up the next planet. Join me to walk through and see how the ship phase works for the first time. I’m excited to see what it adds to the game. You can find that stream here.

Then next Monday at 8:30 PM Central, I will be streaming another game. My plan right now is to pull out a new game, Roll to the Top and see how that goes. It’s a roll and write game about filling in numbers, not too complex, but based around how well you can maximize that and get it all the way to the top.

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You can catch up on part 1 here.

ISS Vanguard

Now that we’re done with the first planet we’ve experienced about half the game. I say about half the game, but I do expect the planet exploration is going to be the largest section of the game. We go out and explore and each planet is going to have something different and unique to explore. We might even come back to planets and explore them more quickly a second time.

The other part of the game which I really didn’t get into yet was the ship phase of the game. In the ship phase you do a number of things. Research new technology, travel to new planets, build or get new landers, heal up crew members, or deal with unrest or issues with the crew. It’s an interesting element to the game. It reminds me of how Tainted Grail has resource management in it, but this seems bigger but less punishing.

But that part of the game is going to be less. I play maybe two or three hours on a planet and then 30 to 45 minutes on the ship. That ratio is going to be around there somewhere, but I’m not sure where. I expect that it’ll be a lesser part of my journey though. And while it is impactful, it likely will have less of the overall story for the game.

I like how it is setup though. Instead of needing 10 sheets to keep track of it and marking and erasing everything, it is a book. Not just a book, though, it is a binder with card sleeves and other things in it. So the state is easy to save and you don’t need to worry about erasing through the paper or not getting everything cleared.

Upcoming Streams

So next Wednesday at 8 PM Central time I am going to be playing more ISS Vanguard. That is going to be the game of choice for at least another eight weeks, and it might be longer. There are too many campaign games so I want to get to them as they come in. But if I really am enjoying ISS Vanguard, which I am so far, I might not want to quit.

Then my other streaming day is at 8:30 PM on Monday, again central time. But join me then for random board games, and I might even start to mix in some painting. I have an idea for next week that I want to play Planet Unknown. So expect to see what as next weeks streaming game. It’s one that I have played a few times now and I want to play more and see how it goes solo.

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Clever Board Games

I really enjoy this series of roll and write games. I think I’ve played on the app all of the games at least 30-40 times and well more than that for Ganz Schon Clever. And the apps for these games are solid. It is odd to me that there aren’t asynchronous games or other options to play with people, but it’s a solo game. Not even pass and play.

The upside is that you only play a couple of minutes when you play the game. Which I think that works really well. It is also a very good way to learn the game(s). Not just because the rules are in English. I expect most people will get rules in their language. But I bought two German versions so the app is a great spot for rules.

It is also nice because it shows off the moves that you can do. That means that you don’t need to think what is possible. You click on a die and it shows you where it is going to go. That also makes it very good for learning how to play all of the games.

Upcoming Streams

Next week I am back to my normal time. That means Wednesday stream will be at 8 PM Central time. You can find the link for that here. The plan is to wrap up exploration if possible. Though, while I suspect I’ll be able to this time. In future streams some of the planetary exploration might take longer to complete. But join me for that and for the ship phase as well as I stream.

And then next Monday, I keep on promising smaller games. I have a couple new roll and writes I could try or other smaller games to get to the table. So that’s going to be the plan, it might even be revisiting a roll and write which I’ve already enjoyed. The next game that I want to try I mentioned yesterday, Planet Unknown and see how the solo play goes with that game.

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The Game – Lands of Galzyr

Is there enough game in Lands of Galzyr. The Dice Tower has done I think two different reviews on Lands of Galzyr. One was with Tom Vasel and two of his kids. The question that came out of that review, was if there were enough game to Lands of Galzyr. They rated it well, but not as well as others because the game element is so light.

And that is something that I struggle with, kind of, in this game as well. Mainly, how do you balance the story with the game in a game like Lands of Galzyr. The mechanics are extremely simple, roll some dice, use abilities on cards, and see if you pass the check. But for the most part, there isn’t a ton that you can do.

The keywords, or verbs, help with this. If I have a card, like a feather duster, that allows me to “search” better I’m going to pick the actions with “search”. But it is a valid question with the game. Mainly because I pick what is best, or easiest, for my character, and I don’t worry about thematic elements that much. Now that is something that I could do, and I would likely fail more often, so do I want to?

This is the one thing as I play more that I wonder about. I like Lands of Galzyr a lot, and I think the ease of play and getting into the game is amazing. But at the same time, so much of the game is simply rolling dice and seeing what the outcome is. I want a little bit more than that at times, and I think it makes Lands of Galzyr a harder game to play on repeat.

Upcoming Streams

Next week it is on to game 8 and I have the next three games all scheduled out. But it is back to the table for more Lands of Galzyr. You can click the notification bell here. It’s the easiest way to know when I go live, or to subscribe and click the notification bell for the channel.

And next Monday I will be streaming as well. That is at 8:30 PM and I do not know what game I am planning on next for Monday. I have a few different options to choose from. I will likely put up the stream and share the line on social media about 30 minutes before I go live.

And let me know what is the next campaign game I should play. You can see a list of some of them here plus find me on Board Game Geek and see more campaigns I own. Leave a comment down below or on that article. Or you can find me on Twitter or Facebook to let me know as well. I really do want input as to what you want to see.

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The Game – Lands of Galzyr

I referred to Lands of Galzyr as a choose your own adventure, so let’s talk about that element of the game. Because it is very much that in many ways. In Lands of Galzyr you travel around and you interact with an exploration journal. And that exploration journal is the main part of the game.

Now, I know some people won’t like that there is an app or website for this. It does limit how long the game might potentially be playable. Granted, it doesn’t likely limit it for a long enough time that you can enjoy and experience it. But also the website makes the interactions in the game that much smoother. The benefit of the website is that it can naturally load and branch the story without having to take you to a different passage or page. So I appreciate it, I do prefer when games have both options, physical book and website or app, but that’d be a lot for Lands of Galzyr.

The Story

But back tot he choose your own adventure part. The story is not too high stakes, so the choices you make feel like you get to make choices. What do I mean by that? Often times in dungeon crawlers or campaign games, you want to make the right choice. If you make the wrong choice it’s going to make the game go poorly. Well, in this, you make the choice that you want to make because the stakes aren’t as high.

Overall, to start, the story is a ton of fun. And I feel like I am only going to scratch the surface of the game. Now, if I were playing it again, there are elements like Bumir’s story that might only change so much. But the rest of the quests that I’m doing so poorly at, those might change up even more because of how many different ones you can start with.

The Mechanics

And then there are the mechanics of the game. It is very simple. Now, this is going to be a negative for some people. So much of the game simply comes down to picking the skill that is best for you and rolling the dice. Even when you are good at it, you have maybe 3 dice that give you a 1/3 chance of rolling the symbol and 2 that give you a 1/6. So the odds are never amazing.

But it matches the rest of the game. If it were more mechanically complex, it would feel like it takes away from the story. When I first looked into this game, after the crowdfunding campaign, and saw it played, I realized that it is meant to be a very relaxing game. And the mechanics match up with that. You roll your dice and if it goes wrong, you just lose your quest or thread you’re following, you don’t have massively bad things happen to you.

Upcoming Streams

So, upcoming streams, next Wednesday, and I’ll probably play around 6 games of Lands of Galzyr, I’ll be streaming again. 8 PM Central. If you want to see what else happens with Bumir, you can join me then. I’ll try and get the video links up this week but no guarantee that’ll happen.

And on Monday, 8:30 PM Central, I’m going to be gaming again. Though there is a chance that I’m going to start going through my shelves, looking at my collection and maybe see about getting rid of a few games again. What games have been on my shelf for a long time. Though, I don’t know that I’ll stream it all, so gaming of some sort, a smaller solo game. And eventually a video on games leaving my collection.

And as always, if you want to know when I go live, you can subscribe and click the notification bell.

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The Game – Stars of Akarios

I think as I wrap it up I should talk about who this game is for. Because Stars of Akarios, like any campaign game is going to be a big ask for a lot of gamers. So instead of picking a group I think this will work for, I want to ask a few different questions about how you game.

Do You Want A Long Game?

This one is fairly obvious. I am 9 scenarios in, and I’m playing solo. I think the amount of time I’ve played is about 9 hours, probably a little bit less. And I say 9 scenarios, it is more than that because some of it is just reading and making a decision. But as I said on the video I was on page 37 of 197. Do you want to play something that long?

Do You Want A Game That Does A Lot Of Things?

I think this is the biggest question, and it’s also why I made sure I played as far as I did. The game has three parts. Exploring space, exploring planets, and space combat. Now space combat is the most common of them, but you do all of them, and all are important to the game. The space exploration can maybe be fast forwarded, but planet exploration and space combat are key. Do both of those interest you?

What Level of Writing Do You Expect?

Now, this is going to come down to taste, and what you expect from writing. I compare it to a game like Tainted Grail, and Stars of Akarios’s writing is just okay. I compared it to most literature, and it is not great. But, for me, the story in the game is fun, and I want to know what happens next. For me, that works as leading into the next bit of story and adventure that the game promises. But listening to what I read, did it make sense to you?

Do You Want a Directed Story?

Finally, with the story, how open a story do you want? Stars of Akarios is a game that gives you a lot of choice. Without spending much time on one of the planets, I found a couple of directions I could have gone. For some people, that is going to be great, and for me it works really well. I make a decision, and I get to see where that story goes. It means that next time I play it, I can make another and see what happens. For others, they feel like they miss out on story and want to do everything, so want it more directed.

Overall, I do think you need to be prepared for this game. Mainly in that this is a massive campaign and lifestyle game as you play it. And that is not a knock on the game, but knowing that it’s that big, you need to decide if it is for you. It is for me, but just because of that doesn’t mean that it’ll be for everyone.

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday is the continuation of my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition. I am going to be going through games 60 through 51, getting to that mid point of the list. Here is a link to the upcoming video. If you want to catch it live, click that notification bell.

And coming up next Wednesday, I don’t know what I’ll be streaming. I think I have two different options, firstly, Chronicles of Drunagor is sitting on the shelf waiting to be unboxed and played. I could dive into a game of that, or do some smaller solo games. For those I have games like Set a Watch, Black Sonata, and Final Girl that I could get to the table as well.

Let me know what you want me to stream next? I am leaning towards Chronicles of Drunagor, if I have time to learn the rules but if not, what small solo game would you want to see?

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