Nusfjord | Rahdo's Final Thoughts 

i just hope i didn't mispronouce your name too badly! :)

This house rule could actually make the draw (and the game) even less fair, since some of the C cards give you more points than others, but are riskier/harder to build towards. If someone has "better" C cards at the start, you give them more time to optimize their strategy and thus to lock in their possible advantage. Some drafting variant might work though.

Dmitri Dolgov totally agree 👍 However , it was the most beautiful part of Agricola for me that someone might have gotten a better combination of occupation and minor improvement cards in the beginning of the game, but the beauty is to try to create a whole your game strategy from the start and see if you will manage to execute on it in the end. Some kind of drafting might get it more balanced though, which is good)

it's already gone. no reason to spend time experimenting with variants when i've got other games that i already unabashedly love as is :) still a shame though, as this is really good. maybe his best since agricola, but for the one thing that really bugs us :)

That's too bad, you seemed really excited about this one at the start of your final thoughts. I thought for sure it was a keeper until it got to the point about the C cards.

could be, but i've got plenty of other games to enjoy that don't require design experimentation to be ideal for my tastes :)

Richard never wants to make even the simplest of changes. He's stubbornly allergic to anything he deems work he shouldn't have to do in the design space of a published game.

I think that is what i would do is present the C cards early and race for the ones you want to mitigate the randomness. I kind of wish we knew what the designer thought process was for revealing the C cards at the end.

there are other games that do this??!? :)

rahdo Well, just Agricola but it scarred me.

sure, life can be unfair. doesn't mean i want my games to be unfair... :)

would be interesting, definitely

I was thinking of the same thing while watching this. The random C card draw adds some zest, but by drafting (perhaps like 7 Wonders?) it provides you a little control over the randomness.

That could work nicely. Personally didn't find the C cards to be a problem. You still have to think about turn order, how to best use your very limited actions those last few turns, etc. So one or more of those C cards might be useful, but you still have to find a way to acquire them, spend ressources and actions doing that, which means there are other things you can't. I think Rahdo overstates that element quite dramatically!

Some cosmetic surgery over the years... he's had some of his expansions tucked.

Brian Joshua Manuel that's what living in Malta makes to a person. Gets younger and younger.

nope, still the same sunlight (my only source of light in videos) and same camera :)

none from me

sure potentially, but see faq.rahdo.com #24 :)

I like your idea. You could even start with 1or 2 more than #of players and draft like 7 Wonders. Kind of a drip feed, which allows you to look at the existing buildings and slowly craft your engine throughout the course of the game.

yup, he talked a bit about that 'zest' in the rulebook for feast for odin, which is why i think he's entering a new phase in his design career :) i played the game 3 times, and each time, either jen or i got demonstrably poorer draws than the other (happened in this runthrough as well). didn't completely derail the game, but we definitely didn't care for it

I wonder if different decks provide different degrees of randomness. I myself so far played with Herring (100s) deck only and it was a smooth sailing every time (can't stop making puns, sorry). I watched the Extended Playthrough and, not to carp :), it looked like you had quite a few attractive options after the first flop ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ntVGw2xq4oQ.html . Longhouse seemed great as 4VP (not counting covering space) for only 3 wood, if you choose not to acquire anymore shares. Renting Service would actually combo nicely with your Harbor Master, since the ships which are upgraded go back to the supply (and, if Jen builds the Stilt House, she would build less ships too). Docking Harbor seemed excellent (3+VP plus covering space for 3fish+3wood is a great deal). Boarding House could've been a reasonable target as well. Maybe these were not big sexy score cards/targets, but they would add up in the end and they were cheap :) On the other hand, it could be argued that Jen's flop was not that great: her Nursery was an anti-combo with her Depot (since you cannot have more than 12 wood in personal supply), Harbor Gate was nice at 3VP for 3 wood, but required fishing track commitment, which might impede investing in elders required for Chancellery. Chancellery brings lots of points, but it is expensive and risky (Jen would need to be able to hire 3 elders out of the remaining 4 hiring actions). I am not sure what happened in the other 2 games, but I wouldn't say that in this particular game your draw was significantly worse. Hers might've been only slightly better, not at least because it gave her an easier-to-follow strategy plan :)

an "easier to follow" strategy plan in a game where you're constantly facing harsh limits on what you can achieve due to limited worker options can be a game changer :)

i actually answer that at faq.rahdo.com #24 :)

@@rahdo Sorry! I'm pretty new to your videos. I understand where you're coming from. I also think it's such an easy fix for those who don't like the rule Uwe put in the game. That said, I've only played it solo so far (thanks Covid! :) ), so I might feel differently about it with other players. Thanks for the video and response!