Just stumbled upon your channel a few days ago watching the Barrage review and now this one. I really enjoy your format. I appreciate your pros and cons, but mostly taking the time to explain why you feel the way you do and by giving examples. You have a new subscriber!!
Really appreciate the kind words! We always strive to be fair, and we still criticise our favourite games if they have issues. No game is perfect or for everyone! Also, it means so much to hear people like our format. Thanks for the sub.
Just dropping a comment to support the channel's pickup. I don't have anything interesting to add to the conversation other than that I really appreciate the honest and thoughtful criticisms, while also being fair and demonstrating where and how the game shines for others to make their own minds up. Great stuff guys!
Thanks so much for the comment we really appreciate it - and it makes us really happy to hear that feedback as this is exactly our goal when creating our reviews!
Very interesting. While this game has been getting a lot of rave reviews, you’re probably the first reviewers to point out the flaws in this game. And all your concerns are reasonable. You presented the negatives very well in a constructive manner that the publisher can truly action on. Well done. This was touted as the best and purest engine builder in recent memory. Engine builders don’t have to rely a large deck of cards. Sometimes the variety could come from the order and Seinfeld of cards (like Faiyum). Were you unlucky with the rare coincidence of the cards appearing in the similar if not identical order as previous attempts at this game?
I think one major issue (for us) is that Beyond the Sun does so well at being 'expansive' with a few simple systems. But then there being only a few systems means that the tech cards can't be too varied. For example, having a tech card in game one that lets you move a disk, then turn a crate into a ship and move it 1 space, compared to having a tech card that lets you turn a population into a level 2 ship and move 2 in the next game isn't a giant difference. You're still gaining a ship and moving it as the end result. So this combined with there only being I think 16 tech cards for levels 2 and 3 creates the problem for us. Also, thanks for your lovely comments. They're appreciated!
@@littlebluecubes No problem. Defo worth trying this out at maybe a board game cafe (if and when possible) and seeing what you think, if you were interested.
Hey you two! Ya'll are killing it, keep up the good work!! I'm excited to play Beyond the Sun, but I'm glad I got to hear a critical review so that I will be aware of the cons as well as the pros!
Thanks a lot for the kind words! Absolutely - as we said it is a great game that we do enjoy playing but we just felt we wanted to share the issues we faced - which may or may not be problems for others. Really hope you enjoy it when you play!
I agree that the artistry is pretty bland. I feel they tried to make it look slick and neo-futurist, but it comes off as looking like tiles in an app. Really takes away from opportunities to provide thematically relevant depictions. Good to know that the replayability is on the low end...I see it at 65.99 CAD in my local store, and I can think of 5 or 6 games immediately that are much more desirable at a much lower price. Always love your format, and you don't get lost in the weeds of complexity while still offering a well defined resolution.
Thanks for commenting Ryan! Agree there’s probably games to buy first higher up your list than this one. We do hear a rumour of an expansion however so if you’re still interested by the time that comes out it could be worth getting with the expansion, depending what it brings of course. Also we’re super happy to hear our subs find our reviewers informative even though we try to keep to under 15 minutes as that was part of our mission when we started our channel! Great to hear!
I disagree on the suggestion of including a score pad. If scoring mentally or on your phone is too complicated you can always use a scrap of paper to score. In fact I'm a HUGE proponent of back-of-the-envelope/scrap-paper scoring. Definitely more environmental, and who doesn't have tons of scrap paper all over the house. I open junk mail just so that I can use the backs of letters for scrap paper. In fact from just the delivery packing paper of my last three games I cut it down to a stack of maybe 50 ~A4 sheets of paper for scoring games. Maybe we should all try to be a bit more resourceful where the environment is concerned.
I think the issue with a scrap of paper is this is a game with lots of different sections of scoring, some of which require you to go and check or count something else, then making it hard to remember where you were or what sections you've done. You'd have to make your own score sheets to make it any better than using a phone. Tbh, the scores are so low in this game that you are correct, a score pad is not needed - or other suggestion of a score tracker around the board is better for the environment. On the topic though, I have to say we absolutely despise games that ship with 5 of the same rulebooks but in different languages. Such a horrible waste.
I am in the Boston Game Makers Guild with Dennis Chan and got to playtest this game during development. While I really love it, I also appreciate your thoughtful critique. For me, I feel that the relatively small set of tech cards isn't as much of a hindrance to repeat plays since the mix will always be different, though I certainly agree that having more wouldn't hurt. However, I always found one of the game's great strengths to be your limitation of a single worker, which requires you to make interesting choices every turn. I also always found that it was possible to shift your strategy during the game based on the cards coming out and your opponents' choices. Regardless, though, your review makes some solid points and there are definitely people out there who won't find it as enjoyable as I do. Thanks again, and kudos for showing us your dogs! :)
Great to hear! We totally agree about a big strength being so many tech options that you are nearly always able to shift your strategy. It's very much: well I was going to colonize, but Tallie has gone on that space, so guess I'll research a level 3 instead. That's not a bad alternate choice! The basic resource space that gives you a population and an ore is only used maybe once or none in a game, which is awesome as it means players are being presented with more interesting was to get what they need. Somebody from the guild also commented and I have to say we appreciate your wonderful discussion and understanding of our critiques. We defo wanna make it clear we think BtS at its core as a game is terrific, we just personally ran into a few issues that hamper the enjoyment for us over repeat plays.
This was a great review. What I really appreciate about the review is that you focused on the end user experience. Lots of the critisims made were left out of every other review I have come across, and see so obvious now. I think Rio Grande did not realise they had a winner on their hands and skimped. The game probably needs a rerelease. Game boards too big and all the other issues you highlighted about cards and art. But we know that won't happen because it would screw over the people who own this edition. So guess they are a Terraforming Mars conundrum.
Thanks a lot - we’re happy you enjoyed the review! Agree - some of the things we highlighted might not be an issue for some people which is great but we just wanted to be honest about it as even though the tiny text might seem like a small issue, for us it is hampering the experience to have to keep reaching over the board, potentially picking other players workers off the card, read it, put it back and repeat 😅 but maybe it wouldn’t bother some people which is totally fair!
@@BoardOfItReviews I think what you pointed out was great and things I would not have considered. So it's great to get a consumer focused review based on user experience. I think we share similar taste in games, and now I also know that y'all got our buyers in how you conduct your reviews.
@@BoardOfItReviews I don’t have it nor have I played it. It gets a so so review from SUASD. Some other reviewers give it amazing reviews... Tom V. Etc. I like Firefly so I think I’d like Xia:)
It is super interesting how we really seem to be in the minority with our overall thoughts on this game - it was mostly the repetitiveness of the tech cards that really sapped our desire to keep playing after a few games
Perfect people to review , great review, but me pick your brains, 2 player game , with movement squares where you play against each other. What are your choices?
I was really interested in this but it is a little disheartening to know that the number of techs and events is small enough to see repeats so early. Perhaps I will hold off until an expansion drops with more techs and events. It does look like an interesting and fun game and seems different in terms of the tech tree IS the game, not just a mechanic in the game. Excellent review. 😀
Thanks for the kind words, we appreciate you watching! I think the repetition is much worse for the events. The issue with the tech is more that BtS does a lot with it's limited systems in terms of making the gameplay feel expansive and diverse, but game to game having a tech card that allows you to make a ship from storage and move it 2 or make a ship from a population cube and move it 4 won't shake up the game too much. Combine this with there only being 16 (I think) level 2 and level 3 techs, and thus is the issue for us. It's certainly a fun and interesting game! I'd defo recommend to play it at a board game cafe if that is possible for you to see what you think.
