Fun fact: "spes" in Latin (and I mean the Latin of ancient Rome, not Latin Spanish 😂) means "hope". Being an Italian who studied Latin at school, I am quite pleased :D
Note about the dice and the theme: The idea is that you have all of these competing management algorithms, which are together being managed by the ship. Consider the dice the resources which your algorithm has been allocated by the Black Angel itself. Ship has finite resources, Angel determines that you can make do with these, and because you don't have access to the inner workings of the Angel itself, you have no way to determine why those were assigned to you.
I've been forced to play this three times now and never have we made it to the end planet. Once one player has 3+ more VP than every other player, they have no reason not to deliberately run into as many ravagers as possible, not only ending the game quicker, but also making it harder for everyone else to catch up. For me it's a systematic design flaw that makes the game unsalvageable. The minis are pretty cute though.
Couldn't others invest in advanced tech while that person is doing that? Though, I agree, It's still an annoying play as it does terminate the game early.
@@MoriMemento117 you can literally go about the game as normal with a shorter clock, that's about it. Any player at the table will just steal their dice and go on about their business. hell, they may even buy the ravenger card in hand mod and clean the ship up just for more points =)
If all they're doing is constantly placing cards in space, running through the Ravager deck, then they're not really utilizing their dice for other things, which means the other players can load up on Ravager cards, advanced tech tiles, damage cubes, resource gems... It kind of sounds like you guys aren't doing a good job of adapting. I've played with people like that before; once they see a player going for a certain tactic, they just kind of... cry about it, and give up. "Why should I even bother anymore, John is just going to take the X resource, which is what I want, so I'm just going to pout :(_ _ _ _ " So... yeah... I mean you CAN just be a baby, or (and I know this sounds like a radical idea) you can just really learn the mechanics of the game and USE THEM!!!
I rewatched after 5 solo games. Efka you don't seem to mention that the incentive for removing ship damage and Ravager cards is to use those resources on your player board. The damage cubes activate tech tiles, and the Ravager cards are essentially wild cards for activating rows/columns. Maybe this is because of your overall point that the player board feels "optional." But after a few plays, players certainly have material incetive to "fix the ship" because of the added flexibility those resources provide.
I am also saving my money for the Eurogames to come later this year. For me, I would definitely buy Black Angel over Tapestry (over priced and doesn't stand out enough imho)......But then there is Cooper Island, Maracaibo, the Madeira reprint Pandemic Legacy Season 3.....plus every year there are games from Essen that were not on my radar they turn out to be really good. Black Angel looks like a good game, but it doesn't grab my attention as a 'must have' . Maybe it's because I already have Troyes.
Black Angel, a board gaming odyssey: - Hey, I needed that die to do a mission! Now I only have crap to choose from and I am way behind in points. - Well, too bad. What are you going to do about it? - I take a B turn. The ship moves. - Well, you lose one point. Roll your dice. - I take another B turn. The ship moves. - Wait, what? You lose six points! The hex I wanted to go to is gone! - Yes, but I am last and just want to get this over with. Another B turn. The ship moves. Spes is in sight. - You are screwing us over! We wanted to do a lot of actions! I have a long-term plan here, a**hole! - See if I care. Another B turn. Two turns to go to the blissful end. - #$%&#%&#$&%!
I was fairly interested in the BA, as I am with every euro game set in Space. I still want to play it, but now I am also a little bit discouraged. I am not sure if I want to have it in my collection. I think, I will stick to Gaia Project, which I love. Very good and funny review, I enjoyed it. Thank you very much! Keep up the good work!
For me there's a cognitive disonnance. If I buy a game called "Black Angel" I do not expect to find out its components are mostly pink :] It's a bit like buying a black-cover CD of a band called "Dark Metal Destroyers" to realise that it contains mostly disco covers of korean pop songs.
@@robertchmielecki2580 Not sure if that qualifies as cognitive dissonance. Just sounds like you were expecting a darker theme based on the title? At least the Black Angel is a black though!
Great review as always! I like how you put the hype away and bring a constructive analysis. To be honest though, you should focus on if the game is fun and worth owning. Lately i have the feeling you got caught in the loop of "this game is good, but why would you buy it when you have this and this?". Variety is a good thing also, and many of us looking for a review already own those games you propose as an alternative. I know you don't mean it like that, but it feels like your message is that there's no point owning some games when there are others that are better.
No mention of either brass games? for shame. Those are my favorites for the Euro category and much more dynamic/replayable than the ones listed. I also think they're easier to get into as well.
@@mahna_mahna Do you even watch NPI frequently? they promised a Brass Birmingham review A YEAR AGO (which is still not provided). secondly it's in the top 10 of not only euro games but all board games. Not including brass (in any of its many incarnations) at this point is like not recommending vegetables in a balanced healthy diet at this point. For the cost factor. you could get the original martin wallace classic at anywhere from 5-20 dollars and i've seen it at salvation armies and other places for just that. It's a game that has more straightforward concepts and an organic than just point salad euros. You can see that there's an intertwined mechanism for all the things that happen. I think it's a quintessential recommendation, great design, accessibility, possibly cheap, and proven through several decades. And better yet a face lift thanks to roxley. Why would it not be shameful to ignore such a ineffable delight? double goes for you.
For me this channel’s scripts are a little meandering between the rules, the review, and the analogies/comparisons. I sometimes lose the thread on what you’re talking about as you make your point! Good quality though and I appreciate that you’re reviewing many games that don’t get the video review treatment from other creators. Thank you very much! Looking forward to more.
What's the thematic explanation for this being a competitive game? Since you said it explains practically everything ... but until that point of the video the game basically jumped out of the screen 5 or 6 times, screaming "Thematically I should be a co-op!" at me. EDIT: Ah, there was an explanation coming for that. Not a convincing one, but that problem seems to be with the game ... not the reviewer.
"Ok, so you tske your pawn and here's how the move system works-" "I threw it on the ground! "I'M NOT A PART OF YOUR SYSTEM. "I'm no ones pawn, board game man!!"
For the first time I have to completly disagree with you, this game is incredible and fun ! It is not complicated at all, especially if you have already played Troyes and Solenia. Theme is maybe not its best side but the mechanics, the artwork, the clarity of the iconography and I repeat the FUN, make the whole game a masterpiece to me.
When you add the qualifier "if you've played X game also by this designer", it really takes away from your argument. I should HAVE to play their other games to enjoy or understand this one. Truly great game stand on their own.
@@dadboddrumming4261 I said it is easy to play and even easier if you know the prementioned games, it is not mandatory. You don't HAVE to play any other games to play easyly this one.
I agree with you. The game is pretty difficult (and the rulebook has some unclear parts) but it`s also fun and exciting. Probably not a game for players who like to make a big plan in round one and God forbid if something interferes that plan...
The thing that upsets me most about the game is that the setting is "space is so big that humans wouldn't be able to live on the ship" while at the same time going "space is so small that its easy to have these robots go off on away missions to help out". You can't have both! Pick one!
Agreed. Got this game at a sale on the hype alone, got it home and played it solo and I just know that it would fall flat with our game group. I'm already looking to get rid of mine.
Love it. Nearly 20 minutes of criticism and it is declared as the best Euro of the year (so far). I'm still trying to figure out if I like it as much as Troyes (I don't think I do) but I agree that it definitely tries to do things differently in both art style and mechanics. I don't hate it but it kinda just makes me want to play Troyes more.
Yeah I was really worried about the ship damage when I was playing the Gen Con demo. Like why would I spend a turn to repair a thing that helps everyone? Its sad to hear that they probably aren't. Though best Euro of the year, I'm surprised you didn't say Pipeline. As a heavy Euro gamer, that is my pick so far. But agreed that I am excited to see what Essen brings.
Are you saying that you think it is #1 euro game this year so far? I thought that was Pipeline's roll. You like this more than Pipeline? Wingspan? Tiny Towns?
What a chaotic confusing looking board. I prefer my euros to have a clear and concise visual language that already give me a basic idea about its mechanics without that I have to read the manual.
Thank you for the review, mirrors my thoughts on the game. I wanted to like Black Angel, but its convoluted rules and strange mechanics just did not do it for me. Kind of reminded me of Axl Rose's solo album or the Duke Nukem [takes] Forever reboot. Too much time, too much strangeness in development. It's certainly a heavy euro, great production, but overwrought game play. I like euros, but this table space gobbler is a miss. Kept thinking, I just need to try it again, but I watched group after group bounce off of it at PAX West. When I asked, they came away with, I think there is a good game in there. I kept thinking, you pretty much know on the first date whether its for you or not and if you cannot tell, it probably is not a good game [at least for you]. Hadara, while a light euro, that came out at the same time roughly is a much better game, maybe even a classic. Quick, comprehensible, elegant and an interesting game space. Worked at 2-5 players very well and I can teach that game to newbies in about 15 minutes, play takes an hour. Took it to a non-gamer party, the silence was delicious, you could feel the energy people were pouring into the game as they thought through the turns. They were highly engaged.
Wait, this is based on Troyes?? Did they just want to re-use that system, or were the developers really hoping to pull in Euro-gamers with a psychedelic space odyssey?
Remember this is an AI competition to simulate the optimum process to get that genetic material safely to Spes. That hasn't yet happened? Apparently.............
Thanks! This is helping me not buy it :P I'm sorely tempted (Space themed games are like catnip for me) but reading the manual and looking at the board I got a lot of doubts, and you mainly confirm most of them. Lot of abstrac-ty things to "do" that dont really have anything to do with theme, a board that look like another Rosetta Stone to decypher... I think I'll pass, or just hope somebody else near me buys and let me try :P BTW... really, they didnt decide to make it a rule that if the ship crash nobody wins? Really? What are we supposed to be then, because the bit I read was that we wanted to be elected as the true AI that will manage the colonization process and thats why we wants points... but if we are all a heap of scrap floating in space then what the use is to be the winner of the points? Argh.
It had a ton of hype before Gencon, and it sounds like a lot of people bought it before playing it. Wonder how many will end up in the used sections of game stores.
Efka, your comment about not knowing why the dice in space let you do things basically summed up my feelings about Troyes. I was fully expecting to love Troyes but for some reason the rules just didn't make sense to me. I tried watching rules explanations multiple times and just couldn't get it. Why do people get to buy my dice? Why do we have to do weird divisions of the number of pips. How is any of this thematic? Are we just doing these things because the rules say so? I just felt depressed by the end of the game, and have no interest in ever playing it again. Black Angel will definitely be a hard pass for me.
Thanks for the great review! This confirmed my doubts about this, not a fan of the neon colors and gameplay looks a bit convoluted, Solenia looked much more charming in its artwork and simplicity.
Disagree with ya on this one fella! Keep up the good work though! I'd recommend Trickerion, Gaia Project and Anachrony personally. GWT is child's play!
@@NoPunIncluded If you had to pick one classification I'd agree with you - Pipeline is an economic games. But it is kinda tangled up in a lot of eurogamey mechanisms.
hmmm. super hyped game that fell flat. i think i might have to look this up in a year when it will probably have bargain bin prices like SeaFall. it looks like it would be an interesting enough solo game, and I do really dig the art style.
100% 1000% 100000% agree with this review. Art is all over the place Ideas are all over the place Worker placement and mechanics all over the place. This game is bunch of mechanics thrown together...as for identity.... its just ouch
Hey Matt, I think that impression might come because negative reviews tend to stick in people's memory more. Our last three videos where overwhelmingly positive so I'd argue that overall we're quite positive.
Troyes is awesome and not complicated to many many people. Some people have a hard time learning Microsoft office others have no problem at all. It's relative.
I feel like SUSD and my tastes in games only overlap about 60-70%, but Troyes is definitely one of them. I played it for the second time tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems way better than whatever this thing is.
Massive fan of Troyes, 0 interest in this one due to the hideous aesthetic and lack of integration between theme and mechanism. Ironically both things that Troyes did phenomenally well.
I find it funny that some people think that Troyes is a game with zero relationship between theme and mechanics and others specifically point that out as one of its strong points. It's quite rare to have a game where different people hold the exact opposite opinion there. I love Troyes and the wonderful art and theming definitely helps, even if it feels a bit weird to chase off a theological conflict with archers...
@@rabidfurify Interesting point, it depends on what comparison you make and what standard you hold for theme. This isn't as thematic as nemesis, western legend, shadow over brimstone ect. But compared to other heavy euros, far more effort has gone into making the theme work out. My take on those military cards was that your using military power to crush the problem rather than solving it.
Too bad my family loves Troyes. Seems like they tried to stretch the base mechanics of that game too far. But they couldn't so just added on mechanics that are meh...
