Thank you. I could say that is just characteristic of my taste: I like unique games, so I guess my list is naturally five mechanics that are less common than others. I am glad you appreciated the gameplay footage. I have a lot of “stock footage” from my prior reviews but for this video I specifically reshot many of the games so I could give proper focus to the mechanics. It was time consuming and I’m happy the effort was noticed.
@@theperfectboardgame I agree, the video is really well done! I know that takes a lot of time and effort to get all the footage and edit it in. However, it makes the video overall more effective and helps everyone understand what you're talking about. Very well done!
Which mechanics you left out? There's about 190 listed on BGG. If you meant our favorites, then I can think of one or two. 1. Equipping / Upgrading. In some games, the player's characters get to add tools or weapons during the game. The heroes in Here To Slay are allowed one item to help them. If they return from battle, the item can be given to another hero. In Wasteland Express, you can add upgrades to your vehicle. Unlike in HTS, these must be paid for, imposing a budget, where you weigh the cost and benefits, and the opportunity cost of not getting a different upgrade instead. 2. Setting the price of rooms in Castles Of Mad King Ludwig (probably equates to "I cut, you chose.") This complex version of ICYC is the hook that keeps people playing this game year after year. Most of the strategy centers on what happens in that market. If you are the one setting it up, there's a lot of deliberation and decision making that can go into 5 to 30 seconds of game time. 3. Also in that part of COMKL, is your hidden agenda, based on the goals you are working toward. The other players are likely unaware of your motives for pricing the rooms in a certain way. While they are grabbing what they want at prices they must endure, you have made what you want cheap or free. That's hidden agenda. 4. ALSO in that same market, your agenda is working toward those goals. The end game "mission" is spread out over your cards, where you want to maximize each condition or type. The missions are plural in Wasteland Express. Each player has 3 unique missions that must be fulfilled (or 1 of them, can't remember). I think Lords of Waterdeep has this mission mechanic as well. 5. Which brings up another mechanic that I like, which is order-filling. It may have another name, but the goal cards in Waterdeep are basically a grocery list, or list of ingredients for completing that goal. This order-filling is found in many games, including Century and Parks.
I like the shared/reusable discard piles of Lost Cities and Arboretum. Discarding is no longer a mindless activity. You have to think about what your opponent wants/needs every time. Can agony be considered a mechanism?
Absolutely. I’ve had it on my phone for years. Other apps go out of style, but now this one. It’s so great in app form though, I don’t have any reason to buy a hard copy unless there was some sort of multiplayer version.
I’m not sure I entirely understand. Are you saying the stock mechanic is akin to area control? I think it is close, but to be analogous, an area being scored would need to be worth points that are proportional to the number of control tokens on it: more presence, more points.
Skymines also has a stock market. What I like about East India Companies is that the game is one of the most compact stock manipulation games. What I mean by that is: other games I have played that have a stock market are often a game on top of a game and that makes it more complex and prolonged. EIC is just five rounds and it’s (relatively) simple, so I can enjoy the mechanic without having to commit too much.
I would guess that very few who are really into this hobby got an iq below 105. Probably few below 110. The tons of rules etc etc... you need capacity/cogntive skill to process it all. Maybe this is one of the elephants in the room... that only like 30% of the population is smart enough (for euro games, abstract strategy and similar).
