The remedy for the over-large box; toss the insert and cut the box down to 1-1/2" high - that's a whopping 1/3 the original volume! The top and back graphics are preserved and side cut falls just below the designer's name so that's not lost either. With a patient steady cut using fresh blades you get a pretty good result (it's thick cardboard so go with multiple slow cuts). Grab the unofficial rules v37 from BGG and print it booklet style (folded 11x17 sheets) - Kinkos can do it if you don't have access to larger format printer (one of few perks of working in an office). These rules are professional looking and iron out the presentation and errata issues of the orignal. Now, the oversize rule book is a glorious interior panel in the game box. Pretty cool little game.
I recently picked up this game used, mostly due to this lovely video, and yeah the box is HUGE. I repackaged everything into an empty Sakura Arms box and there's still enough space left over for the upcoming expansions. Fantastic game, oversized packaging.
I'd love to see Marian illustrate a Wizards of Earthsea Graphic Novel. The box size did surprise me as well! Not as peeved by it, but can't say you are wrong - I'd have much preferred it half the size.
Thank you for the nice look at the game... i really like the different mechanics... the box issue is understandable and luckily i got the space to store the box in my cellar until i will eventually sell it... until that... i will find a nice little box to store everything.😁
I think they might do a 2nd release since there a few glaring missprints in the game. Hopefully they revise the box and insert as well. I was very thrown back when I opened my copy and saw the box size compared to contents.
The game looks really interesting to me, but the problem with the box and rule book size is a huge turn-off. One more big negative about the sheer size of the box is that it will greatly increase the shipping cost. Shipping containers are not sold by weight, but by volume. So with such a huge box, many fewer units of the game can be shipped for a given volume of shipping container--which leads to needlessly high shipping costs. The designers need to learn from this self-inflicted wound and make responsibly-sized rule books and boxes in the future.
Marian Churchland is an incredible artist, and I love her comic book work. Check out her work on Image's "Arclight" anthology, and the series within is called "8house". I will be buying this game tonight as I just spotted it at a store in Portland and her artwork instantly drew me in. Thank you for this video to help seal the deal :)
I couldn't agree more with this review. I really like the game and the contemplative and randomnarrative nature it has, and the art is gorgeous. But that box its so unnecesay. Im currently building a small box and have the pdf on a tablet or something. And its a pity because the game is so good!!
I could not agree more on our addiction to plastic in games. I almost ALWAYS rip out plastic inserts of games and their expansions that mostly contain air (ahem...The Everrain, any CMON, Awaken Realms and Mystic game), toss them into recycling and consolidate all components into the core game box. It would be a lot better if we did not have to do this ourselves and we simply saved Mother Earth a lot of hassle in the first place. Maybe the shipping/container crisis will finally drive the point home in terms of the only thing most of us care about: money.
I am really glad there is a great game here - i have backed and just received a copy and i think as a first kickstarter from the guy who designed it, he upped the size of the box potentially under advice from manufacturing and pressures about sleeving. I therefore myself am prepared to cut some slack here, this is not a large board game company that should know better, i would say a little bit of fear or poor advice led this to be bigger than necessary and he can learn from it. Sometimes things just happen unintentially especially with small independent individuals just trying to bring us a game of theirs to life. The fact the game is good is great news and also a well done for getting it done at a time when large companies are giving up.
Absolutely spot on ! Love the game, so easy to get out and play, its a ton of fun. The rule book is crazy, and the box is comparable to the tainted grail base game box. love the game and art and the feel....
@thedungeondive I recently released a print and play game named Rusty Dagger: solo adventure zine game. I think you’d enjoy it. It is a storybook adventure with tactical combat on a single tile with random room generation. There is a how to play video up on RU-vid and a Facebook group. Keep up the great content!
I like the big box, and the newspaper sized rule book. First time I brought it out to play with friends that don't board game much, they were super intimidated. It was great when they started understanding it. We played for 4 hours the first time. Now they can't wait to try other games they were too scared to pick up.
You made an error in combat explanation. If there is a Block , player can choose to resolve the block pair instead of a Monster hit in the other pair. Great review!
If there is ever a 'Best of Dungeon Dive' compilation, this rant about the box and rulebook has got to be included. The only thing I can think of is the designer plans on doing LOTS of expansions...
So Daniel, did you give the second edition a try? I just finished my first playthrough of the base game and I'm very much in love, quite honestly. Yet, there's all of the expansion to uncover and I already consider this to be a hidden gem!
Fairly disappointed with how this campaign ended up. Like DD said, enormous box, enormous manual riddled with errors, components difficult to get out of box, fiddly to setup. I do love the art and aesthetic and tile-placement but the average combat and everything else means I won't be playing this again any time soon.
Was there ever an explanation for the weirdly enormous box size? Miscommunication with the manufacturers? Did they confuse inches and centimetres? Were there unmet stretch goals which might've filled the remaining space?
Thx for the gameplay review!! Look really fun and puzzly just enough for my taste! As for the box and the rule book, that's weird! Did they expect to add some cards or other stuff or was it just a planification mistake? Your right, we need to start thinking ahead and develop an eco-responsability consciousness... The time for Big Box plastic filled boardgame is over...a minimalist approach doesnt mean a boring approach to game play!
Once again, paper is sustainable, plastic is not. Also, microplastics are literally killing life on the planet, and most plastic is not actually recyclable, especially since China has severely limited the amount of plastic they are taking from the Western world.
It’s a shame I missed this on Kickstarter. Hopefully we can buy a 2nd edition down the line with a reasonably sized box. Do you know if this will be going on general sale eventually?
While the combat system sounds interesting with some strategic potential at first, thinking about it makes it seem *highly* random with almost no strategy beyond card counting/knowledge, with random damages across a wide range of potential values.
Gosh, the game looks amazing, but that box looks nearly as big as the box for the Everdell complete collection for way less game! I wonder if this means they're planning to release a lot of expansions?
Great vid, glad you mentioned this issue in gaming, there is just no excuse for such a waste and nobody should be using these plastic inserts anymore. There is just no reason or need.
I'm really trying to be more responsible for the amount of plastic I am responsible for, and being in this hobby makes that very, very hard! Glad to have someone like you in my corner. :)
They must be thinking toward future expansions? Or they plan a high retail price, as you need a box size that equates to price tag. Looks pretty stupid, indeed.
Gane is retailing here in the UK for around £58, so that's almost certainly a factor. Real shame. The size of the insert wells suggest expansions are planned.
Thanks. Great content as always. Love the art , color, larger card size of this game. Mechanics also look interesting. I can get over box size unless I am paying a lot more for it.
I don't have the game, but I must be in the minority, I like both the box and the insert. Great for sleeving (I enjoy sleeving almost as much as playing the game) as well as for any future expansions. I don't use Ikea shelving, so that's a non-issue for me. A large box like this on a store shelf would be much more likely to catch my eye (as well as many others) as well.
@@TheDungeonDive Oh good! I was worried I crossed a line with you or something. It was a comment about the unofficial letter-sized rulebook that I designed and people can find on BGG. Hopefully it helps people who are frustrated by the insanely-sized rulebook.
@@TheDungeonDive Yeah that's me 😄 And thanks! I'm also the guy who did the Xia unofficial combined rulebook. That just underwent a major revision, if you haven't checked it out in awhile.
Some RU-vid channels (or all, automatic RU-vid feature?) do not allow posting links in comments. Even if you do something like writing it out like "dot", Google recognizes it and removes it. So, better to refer to other websites in wording like "check out my better rulebook on BGG Files" or similar...
Thanks for the review. I appreciate the details of your game walkthrough. Though I think your OCD has taken over the review at the end. Your review could have been half the size. GT
I don't have OCD. That's a serious neurobiological disorder. I just have a very small room in a small house, and prefer my games to come in boxes in sizes suitable for the contents they contain.
This is a great video (subscribed!). 2 things: 1. There's one thing which you forgot to claim: This most definitely was NOT the size of the box of the prototype which you represented here 1.5 years ago. Obviously, if it was - you would have said something about it to the creator. Also, somehow, in that regard, it might be unplesant to say, but the creator putted you in some uncomfortable (maybe even embarecced) position in front of both your viewers and the game potential fans by showing a MISLEADING product in terms of its size (even with the caveat of saying: "This is not a final product"). 2. I find it hard to believe that you didn't think about it on your own, Yet - you didn't share with us about the fact that you did, so... Here's an idea for you: You (- a lucky guy that you are -) can use the prototype box to store this game ;)
The text is super tiny in the rule book. Smaller than in most rule books half the size. I had to wear glasses to read this manual, and I usually don’t.
A big box will hold all the supplements and add on items that are probably part of the author's roadmap. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but I'll bet that's what's behind it.
@@TheDungeonDive I do not have this game so I don't have a problem with box size. Not ready to fully convert to the Light Side yet, but maybe some progress on that front by not sleeving story cards of Aeon's End: Legacy (only playing cards.). Thanks for the review!
Box sizes dont bother me, but you know what I did when he vented about it? Stopped the video😁 Game itself looks cool and great presentation as usual Daniel 👍
I'd also bet that, if there are further expansions, they also come in fancy boxes with plastic inserts. If future expansions just came in bags, or wrapped in paper, I could totally get behind this idea.
16:45 so.....if I make a really powerful well placed attack (let's say 9) that would probably give my opponent a big wound and the monster makes a week attack (let's say 1) that would probably scratch my armour, I get hit by 8 points of damage because that's the difference between the two attacks?....that doesn't make any sense as all. Or did I missed something? The game looks very nice and interesting. The art of the cards are great. The art of the dungeon cards....mmmm not that good. The rule book is obviously printed in the wrong dimensions. My guess is that they made a mistake but they didn’t noticed until later that it was already in mass production that couldn't take back and reprint. I agree about the big box size. Maybe it was made to have room for later expansions or something. But man....talking about the "huge box" problem 10+ minutes in a 29 minutes video.....come on.... And the "doing my part for the plastic catastrophe of our environment"....please. We have talked about it again. Plastic can be recycled man. That's not the No1 issue of our planet. Get over this obsession. You can see all around you petrol overused and huge amount of garbage and food throwing away. Do you even know what petrol is used for nowadays? Even in cosmetics. And again, I have told you, paper usage means more trees cut down to make it. I'm not trying to offend anyone here but our environmental issues are very different than you think and plastic is not the biggest issue. But I respect your right to have your own opinion.
Once again, paper is sustainable, plastic is not. Also, microplastics are literally killing life on the planet, and most plastic is not actually recyclable, especially since China has severely limited the amount of plastic they are taking from the Western world.
@@TheDungeonDive dude I can see your reply over and over again in different comments. One is just enough, chill out. We can argue about this subject a lot. Once again, paper comes from trees. The long time a tree needs to grow up and the fast way it goes down from people or those planted hell fires we can see all over the world, taking out thousands of wood areas will make our planet run out of oxygen way sooner than we can be in any real trouble from plastic. Plastic can also be recycled and it can be destroyed if it is necessary. It takes a little time and resources to make and we can destroy it if not recycled. If you do a little research about the wood areas that are no longer exists on our planet the last 100 years you will see the real problem.
What’s wrong with the box one of the only game that stores all your components including sleeved cards in a very organized way. My only complaint is the final boss should be bosses not just one to make it more replayable. Also blocks trigger first not monsters attacks. The rule book was sized to hold the contents inside it so the contents don’t roll around. Seriously ur trying to be more eco conscientious so ur not sieving cards good luck with ur card futures.
Great review! 100% agree on the production. In this day and age, I don't think I will ever feel comfortable playing a game with so much eco footprint... (just like not feeling comfortable using one time plastic bag...)
Once again, paper is sustainable, plastic is not. Also, microplastics are literally killing life on the planet, and most plastic is not actually recyclable, especially since China has severely limited the amount of plastic they are taking from the Western world.
