Newton is just the title of the game, I think mainly because of marketing purposes, as it sounds familiar for many people. But the theme of the game is actually not about the life of Newton (as you can find out in the first page of the rulebook). The players are young scholars, who try to become as famous as Newton, by doing different scientific researches, travels, works, etc. I think the theme of the game is really good. Maybe it's not perfectly integrated, but - considering other "themeless" euro games - I think it's perfectly fine, most of our actions make sense.
hah or dazzling the demented sentimental gentry with alchemical rants like in his underadvertised early days, well surely noone becomes freemason grandmaster by being a non eccentric introvert savant spending his days sitting in a room splittin' hairs, his is the kinda story kids groomed into the values of the modern materialistic-capitalistic world should definetely hear...
Thanks for the review. This one is a keeper in my collection as it has a relatively short play time at two with some great decision space. During my first plays it felt like the book shelf was a more powerful strategy above others, but after numerous plays I find there are different paths to victory. Along with the hand management I also enjoy the master cards in this game. Lots to explore in a relatively short play time.
At 2 the game can move at a great pace! Seems to be fairly balanced among the various strategies. Of the 2 we both feel Darwin’s Journey is the funner game (although much longer even at 2 players).
You two need to play more Luciani! T'zolkin, Marco Polo and Barrage are three of the greatest euro games ever, and the expansion to Grand Austria Hotel is very strong too. Newton is one of his few games I haven't tried yet. Thanks for the video!
We’ve both played tzolkin, but only once (wasn’t the best of experiences for us but certainly willing to try again). We played Marco Polo II and really really enjoyed that one. We are supposed to play barrage with our gaming group soon!
@@BeforeYouPlay Yes, an Italian series would be excellent! You may just not like the mechanisms of Tzolk'in, but it is so brutally tight, especially with the expansion. I've played it over 20 times and never felt that I have played it well. I haven't played Barrage as much, but it may be even better.
At 24:10, I’m pretty sure you were able to use the coins gained from the top half of the card to boost the bottom action, because they are separate actions.
Thanks, guys! I really enjoyed this playthrough and review, and am actually considering buying this game now that I see what a nice engine you can build.
I enjoyed this one very much multiplayer, but did not care for it at all solo, so it is no longer in my collection. Thanks for the playthrough! Brings back memories.
Lots to do in this game, but of the 2 titles we like Darwin’s Journey better (although we did play them in reverse order, which might have influenced us).
This really taught me that I should continue to listen to my gut. When this came out it had a lot of popularity and on the surface I was drawn to the card mechanic and the many paths to victory, but something kept me from diving in and picking up a copy. After watching your play through I think that I wouldn't mind giving it a try, but I'm in no rush.
I got rid of this one after one play and was a little concerned when you said you liked it more after additional plays. Relieved to hear it still overall fell flat. Looking forward to getting Darwin's Journey in.
I really enjoy the challenge of hand management in Newton but haven't played Mombasa or Blackout: Hong Kong. As an academic scientist, I also like the theme; I can see why people think the implementation is a bit dry, but in my opinion the gameplay really captures the need to balance all of these different aspects of your career while still excelling in one. I've played Darwin's Journey as well, and I think that if you want more player interaction/interference, you should probably go for that one. In Newton, especially at lower player counts, you can basically concentrate on different tracks without getting in each other's way too much.
I had this, played it once and my brother hated it so much we got rid of it shortly after. Seeing it in action again now doesn’t make me miss it. It’s so weird in the way it plays out and chains.
One of my favorite games, or at least was, because I do agree with you that Darwin is better and nicer looking. However, I will be keeping it in my collection because it scratches a different itch than all my other games. The tightness and the hand management mechanism are really good in my opinion.
@@BeforeYouPlay the expansion adds cards (that are shuffle with others in the market). They are split in 2, so if you tuck them under your board, next turn they bring a bonus while doing the action on top of them. I love this idea. Also you have tiles that you can buy: as long as you have them in front of you they give you bonus but you can discard them any time to score points, they are well done so the more you wait, the less point you score, so you struggle between keeping the bonus or scoring points :-) I love this expansion it is very well done !
@@woniepom I agree. The expansion will not completely change one's opinion of the game. But if you enjoy the hand management and planning aspects of the game, the expansion really adds depth and some nice variety to explore and enjoy.
The hand management looks excellent in this... unfortunately everything else just looks kind of blah. Am definitely looking forward to Darwin's Journey though. I do mostly like Luciani's games, with Barrage being his best by a pretty fair margin.
I really like Physics and for some time wanted to get this game, but then I played a lot of DJ, which is very thematic. Although I like the playthrough of this, I did not see Newton in it, and I can't see getting people to play this with me, but I think I will find who to play DJ with. I'm glad I did not succumb to it when it was on sale recently. Thanks for the playthrough
Luciani is my favorite designer and this is easily my least favorite game by him. It’s just so dry and lacks the flavor and interesting combos of his other games. I ended up getting rid of it.