I've played the video game for years and played the board game for the first time last night. I was absolutely thrilled with the quality and mechanics of this game. You guys are spot on with your review. Definitely not for everyone, but as someone who loves both cooperative games, and Uwe Rosenberg games, this one seemed to be made specifically for me. Thanks for making this and keep up the good work!
Also, we got the legendary fish one too. Luckily, my wife was playing with the fishing speciality and got a professional upgrade which allowed her to spend an action to clear out whatever fish she wanted! Even with that ability it seemed like we hardly saw any legendary fish. I think that 3 or 4 more legendary fish should have been added to make it a tiny bit more feasible.
37:25 You're wrong about the gift symbol. Rulebook says, each player chooses one friend, activates gift ability, then activates all non-villager gifts. Birthdays only come into play when making a friend, for the +1 heart.
@@joniboi8039 I can't remember exactly, but I don't think there is any food that helps you level up. There is food that gives you extra attack bonus, so the more monsterd you can kill per hour it will speed up your leveling.
@@joniboi8039 there are foods that give boosts when fishing, making your fishing bar bigger. and when you start leveling up the fishing bar grows bigger, so it becomes quite easy to get most fish by level 5, after that it's easy to earn a lot of money by fishing and if you fish on lucky days you get treasure and a good chance to get diamonds when fishing.
Finally a plathrough video of this game that actually keeps the flow. Very detailed and well edited. Love the zoom in on the cards and no constantly flipping through the rulebook trying to figure things out on the go!
Agree it was a splendid overview and playthrough. Regarding rulebook lookup it probably helps being hobby gamers as it seems to be full of specific rules, lots of symbols and codes for things very few words on card, and you made it seem a lot simpler than most people would probably find it from looking at the rules...
Oh my, that last turn, I was on the edge of my seat too. As someone who invested hours on the videogame, never expected the boardgame being so intense. Great video!!
I know it's probably not in the rules, but I'd happily play a variant where you play for 2 years (probably solo to keep the game short enough) or just play with every bundle and goal being a success. Like I think granpa would be happy for us to not stress and just make friends like in the videogame :P
Something I'd never do. I didn't even finish it once yet, probably because I didn't get into fishing on my main playthrough. I married Abigail, agreed to have a baby and um, never went back since for some reason lol.
But, there is less items to achieve in each community center room card. Usually 1-2 depending on the amount of players. So 5/6 items in one year. So it’s essentially like completing 1/1.5 rooms in 1 year. Not impossible.
Just a small rules clarification for 30:10 - Unless I'm mistaken, the friend "gift" abilities go off on when a gift icon shows on ANY season card. When that icon appears, each player chooses 1 friend to activate their gift ability. (I was unsure, however, if friends are more of a communal "resource" or if they are assigned to a specific player.) And since Monique seems to be a Stardew Valley veteran, I think the explanation for why YOU get the gift is that it simulates when the villagers send you random gifts in the mail.
Hi there, yes you are correct. We made it harder on ourselves. We’ve added corrections to the description and the Klingon subtitles. Thanks for letting us know!
You guys are amazing! I completely understood how you explained the game which is actually very hard to do. You guys don’t have the normal loud youtuber energy and you weren’t making any jokes and yet I was entertained the entire time. I wasn’t planning on watching the whole two hours yet I was never board and you kept my attention for the whole 2 hours. You guys were so thorough and it must of taken a lot of time to make this video. You guys are great and I’m gonna watch more of your board game playthroughs❤️❤️
I liked the final thoughts. I do think that at times the game is incredibly challenging. I feel like several of your thoughts could be incorporated easily as house rules, such as the put chests above fish, reveal bundles right away, or turn making friends into a permanent goal.
1:49:30 Grandpa's goals ARE in the game. (Gold, Level, Achievements, Friendship, CC, Keys). They just aren't explicitly listed for the player to see but it's visible via the amount of lid candles on his grave.
This is absolutely amazing! I’ve never sat through a 2 hour youtube video (without speeding up) before this one. I love the way you guys speak! You make the game engaging and exciting without sounding too overstimulating. ☺️
I just started playing Stardew and have a love/struggle relationship with it so the pros and cons mentioned here match why I love the game already. When first seeing this board game I was a bit overwhelmed but I love the co op style like 4 corners in game vs a competition game. I think I am sold on trying this and more hobby board games. You have a new subscriber!
This was such a good teach, play, and review! Thank you for the work that went into making this, I had so much fun watching you play this together, I feel equipped to try it now myself, and I appreciated your thoughts at the end about what you like and dislike about it.
Appreciate the review, great job as always guys. I love the video game. I think the real downer here is the game length. Not every game has to be a strategic masterpiece with minimal luck, nor do they have to be overly complicated. But at 4 players this is a 3 hour game. if I'm sitting down for a 3 hour experience this does not fit the bill.
Yeah, their idea of scaling in this game u fortunately was just 2x everything for 2 more players. For us we would rather play something else within that time frame. At 2 it is an enjoyable experience.
I love Stardew Valley, I played it on PC with my boyfriend and we really want the board game 'cause we also love board games. Unfortunately, not only it is sold, they don't ship outside of the US, so we will have to wait, till they figure out how to get it to Europe. But we are so looking forward to playing it.
I'm from Australia. Same problem. I could possibly get it here, but by the time it arrives, I would have paid well over double the price. I'll just have to wait a bit I think. Maybe pick it up later somehow.
Loved this video! You guys covered the pros and cons so well, I couldn't agree more! I feel like a lot of people are too scared to give negatives/changes they'd make, but I always think it's really interesting to think about how games and board games could be improved!
Most playthroughs are very confusing as most people didn't read the instructions as clearly as you guys. I'm thankful to be able to see a good playthrough like this. This game isn't sold in my country but I'm staying hopeful. Thanks for the video.
I was watching this at 2 am in the morning, and I needed to go to bed, but I just could not stop the video to save my life. I had to find out if you got the "green-green"! I was so excited you won! Excellent video guys! Much love!
at 1:19:00 you gain 1 heart for every item you donate to the museum so you wouldve gotten 4 hearts and at 1:25:20 you could cheese the card a little. all season cards get processed form top to bottom. so first you have to remove a green crop and you couldve chosen the green/red crop to be removed and after that there is no more red crop for the other crow symbol ;) 1:42:10 your epic items do not count towards the 2 item limit. you can have an infite amount of epic items
Fantastic explanation, playthrough, and everything! You guys are both very thorough and concise, provided clear explanations, and your playthrough was very... neat, informative, and you didn't waste any time. Thank you for the video!
@@BeforeYouPlay Does the fact that this became your most-viewed video in only a week mean you'll consider it? :) If nothing else, maybe a Solo playthrough?
I really like the fact that the weight is "challenging" for new players, but at the same time not too easy for board gamers :) I think they found the real sweet spot in terms of the weight of the game.
my board game group all plays Stardew so when the board game was announced i really wanted to get it but it sold out so quickly. i haven't seen any videos from you guys but i love that you went over the rules and did a full play of the game. it's long, but seems like something up my group's alley.
I was both surprised, and at the same time not, that this game was sold out by the time they released the announcement trailer on YT. I watched the vid 1 hour after it was posted, then immediately went to buy the game and could not find a single copy anywhere.
same... I wish they would provide a way to place an order for future copies or at least create an email list for updates on stock. I hope it has enough runs to fill demand and doesn't leave tons of fans hanging. But concerned ape has never really done anything half way so I doubt he will halt it too soon.
Hi! Just got the game and opened it last night. Tried playing and now looking at your video it feels like we played a completely different game. Your video made it seem more fun and definitely was super helpful! Cannot wait to try that game again :) Thank you!
Absolute Brilliant Play Through!!! Thank You! --- The Teach, the Play Through and then the End Review was Amazing! Such In Depth Analysis and Honest Impressions and Criticisms... Feels like a VERY Challenging (and Long) Game and your Honest Impressions are very much Appreciated. --- Was considering this as a possible add to my collection, however my group probably won't enjoy this level of difficulty and randomness without more mitigation abilities. Again, Brilliant Video! One of the Best I've watched in a Very Long Time! Thanks Again!
Thanks for playthrough! I got my copy and almost decided to teach and play it at 4 this weekend with family but I think I'll stick to playing it at 2 players.
Awesome review y’all. I really appreciate hearing about the impact of dice and luck on the game. I was really on the fence when I heard about the game because I’ve never played the video game, but the hype was so huge!!! Then it sold out so quick haha. Anyways, glad I didn’t jump on the purchase, but I do hope I get a chance to play it at one point to try it out.
I've been playing this for a while so just to clarify around 1:25-1:26 (I'm sorry if I missed a comment that already addressed this)... But when you got double crows you can't trade. You don't have the crate on your season card
Actually Grandpa's Goals are in the video game. In the 3rd year Grandpa's Spirit evaluates your progress in stardew valley based on certain criteria such as earnings, player relationships, and if the community center is complete. If you get a high enough score from your grandpa's spirit then he gives you a gift.
This was a great watch and really helped us understand the rules and playstyle better, we recently received our copy of the most recent reprint and have been enjoying it ❤
That was fun! I watched the whole playthrough. It looked complicated with all the weirdly specific stuff from the game but it was actually way simpler than it looked and everything works together...
Thank you so much for the in depth showcase of the game and it's rules! I could already tell from opening the game, that it's not going to be that easy to somebody. Especially with a small language barrier. So this was really helpful for me to alraedy feel very comfy with the rules. Your playthrough just feels as if i played it myself already, so really thank you guys!! Keep up the great work! :))
At 1:25:16 when you drew the double crow, seeing that you have to resolve the season card from top to bottom you could have discarded the crop in space 3 for the green crow. That way, when resolving the red crow there would be nothing for the little bugger to steal! Just a thought! :)
Hello! Thanks for sharing this. We also lost because we couldn't get our second legendary fish for the Grandpa Goal. And I didn't even realize we were supposed to add the Trash tiles to the fishing bag since they don't have fish on them! That's rough.
Long-time viewer, first time commenter. Would love to see a top 10 co-op list from you two. Keep up the good work! I love the content, reviews, and playthroughs. Sounds like you had a blast in Indy!
"Don't take this as if we're trying to change the game" 2:02:45 I am absolutely going to implement all the proposed alternatives in my first playthrough next weekend to avoid pulling my hair out, so definitely thank you for suggesting how to make the game more friendly towards hobby boardgamers.
Hmm, interesting. Ofc, I'm also watching this while playing Stardew Valley on my other monitor. lol Edit: I'm also sitting here going "Pam loves parsnips and George loves leeks"
Thanks for the playthrough! Can't wait to bust this out and play it myself. Minor strategy mistake: I think when you drew the double crow near the end of fall, you only had to discard one vegetable since you follow the season card from top to bottom. You could have discarded the middle crop for your green crow and then ignored the red crow since you no longer have any crops in the red fields.
One thing you could do to make the bugmeat fish easier to catch is have a fish trap "building" on your farm which allows you to fish any bugmeat requiring fish out of the fish bar as an end of turn action.
Long time Stardew fan here, I watched the entire video. You have my deepest gratitude for showing the full mechanics of the game, and also having a great time while doing so. You have a new subscriber here! The game itself seems a bit stressful and I wonder if my 8 yo daughter will be up for this, as she is a non English native speaker. Credits to Monique for pointing out this point about target audience/fan base. I think a great way to make the game more enjoyable is to make 2/6 bundles optional. At least for the first few playthroughs.
wow this is a really nice playthrough video. I learned more coz you actually played it like i'm playing with you guys. I'm excited to get the board game too :D
Knowing the video game, I was surprised that the crops didn't die at the end of Spring, and I had been nervous for you getting that spring crop at the end. When you didn't clear the crops, I went to check the rules - not because I doubted you, but because that is such a fixture of Stardew Valley and other farming simulator games. I was pleased to find under "answers to common questions" in the rulebook, that the first thing listed is "crops in fields do not wither when the season changes;" I have a feeling that was brought up a number of times by play testers that also know the video game. EDIT: And I just got to the end of your video where you mention crops withering :-D @1:59:29
about the problem with having no fish in the fish track you can add a rule yourself that if you get trash from the bag and theres already trash on the track you just take another one.
Stardew Valley is an awesome game. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is still my favorite on the PS. But this is a wonderful adaptation to tabletop. Probably gonna pick this up soon as well. Great video as always guys!
Fantastic video guys. I like how you guys acknowledged that a lot of people coming for this video are coming from video games and may not be board gamers so it was great to see you keep that in mind with you review while simultaneously introducing new folks to the hobby. I am looking forward to trying this one out but I may homebrew a mitigation expansion or wait for a 2nd edition. But I love the video game and this seems to nail theme pretty dead on.
Great review! Definitely enjoyed watching you play the game, and if someone had it and wanted to play with me, I would gladly join in, but it's definitely not one for my collection. Really appreciated the close ups on the cards!! That was a huge help in getting to see the details, not only in the words, but the artwork and iconography of the game. I watch everything on my MacBook Air 11", so things are always very small, even at full screen, so the more close ups you do the better for me! Thank you!!
Thats such a cute gameee I love the mechanics and how they programmed variations for each part of the game 🥺🥺 But also you can change the rules to fit your playing style, for example having 3 moves each instead of 2 so it wouldn’t be stressful, also I feel like the seasons would be too short for me, anyway wish I could get the game 🥺
Great video thank you! I found it super helpful! I bought this to play solo and I intend to tweak the rules slightly based on your recommendation for my own enjoyment! I like your idea of the permanent friends goal card and having the community centre rooms face up but still require hearts to complete it
I wasn’t having high expectations on this game before watching you video as I don’t know about this IP. I was really skeptical when I saw the video length was long for an IP thematic game. But MAN I’m impressed on the game and it really changes my thoughts on the game. It reminds me of my childhood game Harvest Moon especially on the managing farm and mining theme. The luck elements I feel it’s OK from what I see in this play through. Definitely will seriously think about getting this game. Thanks for the content! 👍🏻
I LOVEED this gameplay you did!! i definitely agree though...the target audience is for sure confusing because it's a gray area for who the game was intended for. Mechanics were a definite surprise though, totally agree. Thanks for the playthrough/review friends!
Regarding the complexity of this game and who it's for: A lot of people consider SDV to be a "casual" game, mostly because of it's theme. But... it's actually an incredibly complicated game? There are so many systems and moving parts, MUCH more than most "hardcore" games (most shooters boil down to point and click for 99% of their interactions). I don't think any fan of Stardew Valley, regardless of skill level, will have any trouble wrapping their head around this game, even if it takes a couple plays. In fact, I think there's probably quite a lot of overlap in general in terms of "the kinds of people who like Stardew Valley" and "the kinds of people who like hobby boardgames", and this could be a great gateway for people who may have enjoyed one but not tried the other. The only speedbump I really see in the transition is that Stardew Valley (the video game) doesnt really have a failure state. You can't "lose" at SDV in any kind of meaningful way (I guess you can not get all the extra scenes at the beginning of year three). I can imagine some of the more "casual" Stardew fans getting frustrated when they play two or three or four games of this and still can't manage a win. But other than that I think that, especially because they'll already be familiar with the majority of the basic concepts (filling bundles, crows eating crops, upgrading tools, making friends), the amount of complexity here is probably quite manageable for most fans of the video game.
Loved your video! Thank you for showing us a full tutorial and gameplay of the game! Instantly subbed! May I ask, do you have any clue on when they will reprint and sell the game again?
That was an epic play-through! I started watching it last night and just finished. Now I want to pick it up, but only as a 2 player, it seems. I hope it actually gets reprinted in the 3-month time frame. Yours was the 2nd play I've watched and I'm a bit underwhelmed by the animal's actions I've seen from both plays. It seems that crops are the best way to go if you'd like to win and it looks like you should avoid animals unless you actually have to. Great video M&N, thanks a lot.
It looks like what it needs is actually another 1 to 2 more cards for the seasons. It would mess up the week aspect but allow for those random cant do anything turns and allow a little more buffer.
@@BeforeYouPlay my friends and I came up with a "house rule" that is mitigation for the luck that seems to have worked out well for us...being seasoned gamers ourselves, we don't usually condone the "make-up" of rules, but just to make the luck around the game seem a little more lucrative, we added a VERY small tweak. Let me know what you think as you sort of presented the idea yourself in your review section of the video... We added 1 regular 6 sided die to the game and made up the "Lucky 3's" rule. Basically how it works is you plan out what you want to do with your partners, roll the Stardew dice and proceed in the gameplay the way you normally would, only at the start of the "starting player's" action for the round, they roll the normal 6 sided die to determine their "luck" for the day. If they roll a 3, they can pick up ONE Stardew die that isn't seen as "ideal" and reroll the die of their choice ONCE. The starting player may only do this once per round if they roll a 3. If they roll anything but a 3, the starting player does not gain any benefit and is forced to stick with the roll they landed on with the Stardew die. Just to be absolutely clear, we made it so only the player with the "starting player" badge can roll the normal 6 sided die ONCE per round and the benefit of rolling a 3 ONLY applies to them, ONCE per round and is not passed on to the other players. We are a group of 3 that has played through this game 3 times with the given ruleset and our record was 2 losses to 1 win. We have also played an additional 3 times with the added "Lucky 3's" rule and our record has done a 180, making it 2 wins to 1 loss. The addition of that house rule seems to make it a little easier to win the game, but it remains highly strategic and doesn't become "too easy" by any means, as you only have a 1 in 6 chance of rolling a 3 on the normal die, so you're only increasing your odds, not your probability.
Awesome! I really enjoyed this gameplay and found myself just as worried about the outcome of your dice rolls towards the end of the game as well 😆 lol glad to see that you made it through and won! Can’t wait to pick this one up!
First video I've watched from your channel. One thing I immediately went to look for, after subscribing, was a playlist sorted by "weight" ( 1:54:57 ). For example a Light, Medium, and a Heavy playlist. I thought it would be cool to have a group of games to look into based on the type of game you're looking to get. Just an idea. Keep up the good work!
If you have not looked closely at Grandpa's Alter there are 4 sconces that light after year 3 depending on the accomplishment you have done. This is what the 4 letters are about I just hope they will have more of the games soon
Loved the review! As someone who’s played the game for the last few years, it was fun hearing Monique reference the game a few times. (I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve showed up at Pierre’s before 9 am, lol!) Also really glad to hear that it stayed about as true to the video game as it seems like it could have, with exception of bug meat being hard to get. Pretty sure that’s one of the first things I dump from my backpack when I run out of room while mining in game. 😂 Really looking forward to playing it, and thanks for the great review! 😊
That was very satisfying to watch, the luck component turns me off to it because, personally, I like things like Terra mystica which is absent of luck and all skill. It's crushing to lose a co-op game because luck, it sucks the joy right out of the room. Also, it's weird that there is so much luck in the game because even though that luck is in the video game, it's a small thing because you can just keep going back day after day and eventually you'll get it. But when your time is limited in the game, it doesn't make sense. Thanks for reviewing this! Always enjoyable to watch as usual.
Love the vibe of this video! I really enjoy boardgames but no one I know likes to play them, so I've been on the lookout for various solo games like this. I love the video game so I ordered this for myself. Even if I barely play it, I think it's a cute one to have in the collection for the art work and sheer amount of tokens/dice. Definitely seems like the sort of game that could benefit from plenty of house rules to make the experience more chill and less stress. I'll be slowly looking through your vids for more games to look out for as my knowledge on boardgames is shockingly low atm. Gotta find some good, simple solo stuff. :D
I have played this only once, a three-player game. I agree with a ton of your points and wanted to give my two cents. I do think that 3 players was JUST on the edge of being "sweet spot". I was learning how to play which extended the play length, but I think it was about 3 hours to finish. It's not the most complicated board game I've played, but my love for the video game IP definitely pushed me to loving it despite any of the criticisms I had. (and exhaustion) My biggest ones were - it is DIFFICULT. We had the legendary fish Grandpa goal (so we needed THREE) and we did manage but dang, it was tough. We also had legendary fish required for our fishing bundle DX. I ALSO VERY MUCH AGREE about bug meat. We needed bug meat for a bundle, and by the time we were able to afford the bundle with our hearts, I was too deep in the mine to acquire bug meat and it sucked. Thankfully someone got an item that let me sacrifice my friends to solve any bundle, so I just traded for a bunch of different items and made a friend to sacrifice for the sweet, sweet victory on the LAST day of winter. I personally wasn't as bothered about fishing, but I think it's because we got lucky with our fish, we got a lot of "move fish" in our season cards and since we had a fisherman, they were able to pay money to auto-catch one fish on the board for free. I think now that I know how to play it, it's not impossible to do, but it's very daunting and I think two player would be tougher, I have no clue how four players would feel.
Loved the video gamer solidarity moment with Monique saying "Am I right?" to the camera about the scarecrow. I was like *finger guns* you right. Hahaha. Also, about this game, I suspect I won't like it for the same reason I didn't like A Feast for Odin, which is a shame.
Thanks for making this video. I was extremely excited when this was announced, and I read through the rule book a few times to get a good understanding of the game. Your playthrough also solidified my feelings about the game. I ultimately decided not to buy this (yet) because of the amount of randomness despite loving the theme. Instead I bought Mage Knight last week! However, I was initially worried this game wouldn’t be too enjoyable for those who are unfamiliar with the video game because of the characters. I’m glad that this isn’t necessarily true. I’ll maybe look into the next printing.
