I haven't played Faiyum yet, but I've watched a fair number of videos. I think the similarity of the actions is part of the game's strength. First of all, you can tell what cards do from the symbology. You see the L piece, it shows where you put it, what you pay, and what you get. You don't need to know exactly what it is called in general or look up the proper paragraph in the rulebook. Putting things on the map is interesting because no one owns them. The two main mechanics are the reverse-Concordia hand management and the neutral map pieces, in which. most of your actions create opportunities for opponents. I like that you are possibly punished for buying too many cards, so you really do have to manage your hand carefully. I think there will be interesting aspects to positional play as we play the game more and more. People might be talking about this in years as one of the first "retro graphics" boardgames, like the earliest pixel art throwback videogames! It seems to be very intentionally dated and ugly. I've started to find it charming by now.
I think Egyptian themed board games have long had a similar art style, which in many ways was probably due to it being a popular theme among older, more dated games. But now it has kind of an iconic look to it, and I agree, I think they tried to appeal to this. I don't dislike it, it feels like a board game to me.
I love how you are rewarded to connect the villages with roads or build villages on connected roads for extra points. Really love the simple papyrus art and how a natural big city is forming up during play.
Right?! I find it very appealing. The mild colors of the board are there to not distract you and lose track of what's what when the board gets crowded.
Really!??? I honestly thought it must be a prototype version of the game and kept expecting Tom to say "this obviously isn't the final design, the published version will feature some artwork."
@@danieltownley7436 I love wooden pieces in games, and this has loads of them. I like the graphic on the cards, and the colour on the boards. It is s stylised, elegant map that's clear to read. What's not to like? :)
@@szajko4360 How boring and unattractive it is. That's what's not to like. The wooden pieces are decent, but I was talking about the board (and to a lesser extent, the cards and box)
I think several video reviewers have said that this game doesn't look very good, but to me, once I saw this game, I wanted to play it. It is exactly what I like in a game. A historical-like game with wooden pieces on a board that is fairly straightforward without a lot of extra jazz, and an interesting card system, too! I will have to wait until this game drops in price before I can afford to pick it up, but it really looks nice to my eyes and it sounds very, very interesting. I am glad that Tom gave his honest opinions on it, and I am also happy that he said it is a fun game to play. That is what I am interested in. A fun game. Thanks, Tom!
It is very impressive. Apparently you can put almost no effort into designing your game board and people will still rave about it. Fair play Mr Friese.
I played it once and it reminded me of Concordia, but with more variable cards and nobody actually “owns” anything on the board. I liked it fine, but the game arc is a little weird since nobody is building up toward anything specifically end game wise. Why would I build up for this super awesome move if someone else ends up with the card that can actually execute said move? I really wish the pieces were player specific so I could build up my empire in a specific way because I really did love the variety in the cards!
I dont mean to be so off topic but does anybody know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow forgot the login password. I would love any help you can offer me
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The art looks like it’s prototype. Just look at the outline of the map, it looks like someone drew it with graphite pencil and then coloured it in with crayon. Reminds me of Splotters games and Heaven & Ale. I wish cool euro games would actually get decent art.
This game looks "basic" but there is still lots of planning to be taking into consideration. One thing about this game that sticks out is this game supports up to 5 players instead of the typical 4 player limit. While looking at it, it's not too interesting. Playing is another story, where that is all the fun is!
I really dislike the look of the game. Very bland. I’ll play it if someone else owns it, but I won’t pick this up for myself despite the interesting gameplay.
Tom has pissed off the eurogamers by saying that the boring ugly board is ugly and boring. Now, they must defend the game as if it were their child, saying "Nay to you sir, that board is the epitome of elegance says I" People, it's ok to like ugly and boring. There is no need to get defensive
It's so ugly and the graphic design is so dated. It's also my favourite thing that I've played in 2021 so far. Despite its plain looks, there's a really fun, elegant game here that I just really enjoy. There's a kind of simplicity in its flow that works well for me. I also find it surprisingly interactive - no one owns anything on the board, so every move you make might be helping someone else set up something they want to do. The market is super clever, love the way it works.
The look of the game is so bland... looks like it came out 30 years ago. Makes me not very interested to play it at first sight, even though gameplay might be interesting.
Get some crayons and add some color. You yourself said your interested in the gameplay.... This is a game. If you want something nice to look at make it colorful! Problem solved! I've been blessed by not caring what it looks like - my brain has the ability to separate the matter and I'm grateful because other wise I would have missed out on some great games.
@@benlauson555 Ehm... that's a very simplistic way to look at it. I want the game to have a nice table presence from itself, not something I have to accomplish for the creators. And using crayons on a board game? Yeaaaaaah... not gonna happen. By the way, I disn't say I'm interested in the game, just gameplay might be interesting, which is not the same.
@@richardviguurs5488 hey it's all good. You're just one of those gamers that'll probably never play an 18xx or splotter game because you've got to have the eye candy! It's not a big deal in fact my wife is the same way. She'll want a car because it looks cute, never mind if it's actually a good car. For her how it looks supercedes the actual functionality. She could sympathize with you. Thankfully there are enough of us gamers out there that don't really care so there is enough demand to keep printing boring looking games that are actually amazing to play! I love being the way I am!
