The 1999 Alea version has a double sided Ra figure unlike the uberplay version. Also the wood tiles that are used for bidding are not captain highlighter yellow, making them much easier to look at. 1st ed. FTW
The Japanese edition is a close replica to the original Alea, and is currently available on Amazon jp. There is some Japanese text on the board and player aids, but the game is language independent. (I just printed the English rules from BGG.) Also the box is nice and small ~8 x 6 in.
Ra is my 32nd favorite game, and is one of the hardest to get to play as there is no one who owns a copy that I game with frequently. 1 person I game with infrequently has a copy and have played it twice. He introduced it about a year ago and was at a friends house gaming with us. And I loved it right away. About a month ago he showed up at another board game event, and told us he would be coming to our Monday meetup and highly requested he bring Ra. And he did and got another chance to play, and I won. It was great being 1st place in the game I like so much and don't get to play. I have to agree with Zee's assessment, but think he should mix the components up and take the best that he likes to make a copy of the game for himself. But overall the new version is ok. Being 32nd, I doubt I will buy it, unless I find it at a great price. But I would be happy to own the new version, but would probably prefer the older one.
Graphics are much better in new one, in older they look like kids drawings, but the colors could differ more in newer tho. And board could also give more info, but still overall i like newer version more.
I hope Windrider does an update/re-release of Ra the dice game. It's been on my wishlist for a long time. Not that hard to find original versions,but always very expensive. I was excited to see a re-release of Ra,but think it's overpriced for what you get,especially now that I have seen the new components. This looks like a $30 game,not $50-60
What did the disaster tiles look like? I think the main issue with the new artwork is that while playing Ra you need to be very aware of what tiles your opponents have in front of them ... and it would be hard to assess at a quick glance your opponents tiles especially the building ones and the civs.
Here I am 4 years later just looking for a copy..any copy.. I heard that there might be a reprint but saw an article stating that Zman are discontinuing their Euro classics line which includes RA.. No idea who has the rights now and if there ever will be a reprint..
Never played the old version till tonight. Personally I really didn't like pretty much anything from the old version. Had no idea which tiles stuck around and which ones stayed. And the bidding tiles in the version we played didn't look anything like the ones Zee has in this game. The ones we had looked liked cheddar and were very inconsistent in the color.
Zee, have you seen the new Brazilian version of the game? Could you give an opinion? Some people at BGG are saying it won't play as well because the art design is confunsing and hard to read... any thoughts? precisamente.com.br/atualizacao-agosto-ra-esta-a-caminho/
New one just looks so much cleaner and nicer. The color scheme isn't all over the place like the old one. New one is much classier. Keeps the theme more consistent. Red, gray, and gold instead of the box of crayons that makes no sense thematically. Everything looks like a gem, or gold, or gray stones to keep the theme in tact in the new print. Much more aesthetic. Those old points markers and bidding tokens are god awful in the old one. Yeesh, they're ugly. Glad I got the new version from my gaming group's secret Santa!
Are you asking game play or production values? This video was about production component value comparisons. And when you say "they" you mean Ra the board game, and if you are speaking about game play, I am guessing "they" are the same, as he doesn't say otherwise. And if you are asking about game play, it no longer is a "they" (if "they" are the same in game play), as they become an "it", Ra the board game. I ask, because I am not certain your question. I have played both, but neither much. The board game twice, and it is my 32nd favorite game, and the Dice game once, and forgot to rank it. But you reminded me, so I just did so. But sadly its been a couple a of months and have to go by memory. I just placed it as my 53rd favorite game. But it definitely needs a replay. As I just did replay the board game recently. If you wish to compare component quality, then indeed they remain a "they". :-) Just not sure what you are asking.
clumsy dad here, I play the app. pros: cheap and quick to play. cons: the ai really isn't that great. but overall you get a feel for the gameplay, especially if you're a homebound daddio
The new Medici is nearly perfect in graphic design, which is huge since all the past number of releases have had catastrophic design issues that made the game much too difficult to play. Just the reverse of this Ra re-release, it seems. Which is more fun? Tough to make that call. People tend to laugh more during Ra. There's more variety in the kinds of tiles being auctioned and often more tiles in a set being auctioned, so it's a bit more chaotic. You also have much less control over the size of your bid in Ra which leads to it being more seat-of-the-pants, even though there are more different scoring opportunities to balance. So on the whole, Ra is probably "better" and "more fun"... but I personally just love Medici!
I would argue that, unless you hide your game boxes away in a cupboard or similar, you spend a lot more time looking at the box than playing the game :P
+Jim Ferguson I am sad that you are so ashamed of being a gamer, that you feel the need to hide the games away. Our games are all over the walls of our dining room, so we see them every time we sit down to eat. Get out of the closet man, its safe outside too :) You can even live your life out here too, I promise!
Nope. I even sleeve the people who play my games with bio hazard suits. 10,000 years from now, mutants will find my games and play them, and everyone else's will be dust. :-)
