You both are awesome, and continue to amaze me in your ability to digest and share your insights on strategy, thematic integration of mechanisms and the overall gameplay feel of the games you share on this channel. I was fortunate to work with Vital and be part of the creative journey helping to develop this game and can not be happier of how the game came together. Playtesting the game on a weekly basis over 18+ months with the help of some very talented, loyal and dedicated playtesters really helped make the game something we are all proud of. I was happy to hear you discuss the importance of planning in this game which to me is the heart of all great heavy games. The game can be very tense with regards to timing, and wrapping your head around the mechanisms of this game system will make you feel like you are watching the inner workings of a machine ... paradoxical perhaps and not by accident. :) This is my favorite Lacerda to date. Kanban is my second favorite and was the first game I developed with Vital and it too has awesome timing tension.
Loved that you added in the portion of 'strategic flow' at the beginning. The primer before you both started to play was very well done. Definitely helpful I feel for those that have not played the game before. Oh and I love how Anthony is making sure Frances is donig things in order. hehe Ian did a great job with the iconography and having what to do at each location right on the board.
Thank you!! We really felt understanding the strategy is the key to understanding the rest of the game and how all the rules work together, so we added it :-) Ian did a fantastic job on the graphics for sure. We like not having to consult the rulebook or player aid for multi-step turns.
@@AntLabGames I second Kydaria's opinion, and would like to add, too, that the speed of Frances' narration was perfect, it's almost as if you're doing this professionally, Frances ;) ;) I cannot begin to describe how amazing this game looks to me, from the theme to the components to the gameplay... I just pray to all gods available the KS is going to be merciful (in regards to VAT, shipping, taxes, this or that - it's chaos nowadays, but I have strong faith in Vital Lacerda and the company, I'm going to be perfectly selfish here and say that as long as it's EU friendly and no major additional costs are transferred to the backers I'm happy :D
I came to the comments to say just this, the 5 minute summary is amazing! I love play through's but I don't always want to watch the whole 2 hours to see if the game will jive, that 5 minute recap had me hooked and now I'll be finishing the video. Also productions wise I agree narration speed is fantastic I love that you cut in clips and images from the play through instead of just static shots of components. Your use of highlight and contrast really kicks things up a notch as well. Please please please continue on with this, the work is definitely appreciated!
@@JohnRBoone Thank you so much! I (Frances here) put a ton of work into structuring and filming these new primers and it is so wonderful to hear that they are valuable, especially for these meatier titles. Made my day!
You have done a ton of great videos, but this might be your best, deepest explanation yet. The hard work and preparation you put into this video really shows. I feel I have a much more clear understanding of how this game flows and of what we are trying to do thematically. Bravo! (And the game looks really cool, too - now that I understand it).
Thank you so much! We put a lot of time into this one, and I think we will keep this format going forward. The primer is basically how we learn and teach on a regular game night, so we figured we’d break it down in a different way than just explaining rules. So glad it was helpful - that means a lot!
As a Biologist this game really interests me. I absolutely love that you can cite other players research to publish your own paper but for less points. So thematic!! Absolutely backing this on KS
I love your guys videos I watch a lot of content providers and you are my favourite by an absolute mile!! I think you are so fair and are the most honest reviewers out there and I never buy a game without watching your thoughts on it!! Keep up the great work both of you!!
A great playthrough of what looks like another solid Lacerda! Thank you for all the effort you guys put into this - not just the filming, editing, etc. but the research and plays before filming it. It really shows. I also enjoyed listening to the thought process behind your turns - I could feel Frances' frustration when she was short 1 voucher! This one was already a 'back' for me with Lacerda being my favorite designer, but this video (along with Paul G's excellent video) solidified that decision even more. Thanks again!
Love you guys. Looking forward to this game.Great informative play though.Been following since Anthony’s solo days.I must admit I am disappointed you caved to pressure and changed your name. You will always be Ant Lab Games in my eyes and you should be proud of it.Thanks.
Ah, it wasn’t pressure don’t worry. We wanted to incorporate Ant Lab to do other things under that LLC besides just playthroughs. We had actually been considering a name change for a while to better represent what we’ve become together, but admittedly we will also likely always refer to ourselves as ALG 😁
Lacerda is an auto back for me. I hadn’t seen much imagery of this game yet, but wow does this look beautiful! Very pleased to see it already looking like the finished production. Very impressed with your new approach to play throughs. Excellent work, you two! ❤️🙏
Thanks for the play through. I’m already committed to getting this (I love Lacerda) but your play through was quite different to Paul Grogan’s so it added to understanding all the different nuances of the game, and also the differences between 2P & 3P+. I always enjoy your interplay with each other and enthusiasm. Keep up the good work.
If you guys are gushing, that just gets me even more excited for the Kickstarter. Big lacerda fan like you are. Great video as always, and thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you very much for introducing this game. Great Work, as always. I wonder if you ever happened to play Food Chain Magnate. To me, it's one of the most strategic games I ever played.
Really love this video. My daughters made me put on my headphones because they didn't like the music, but otherwise production was great! Looking forward to this game!
Thanks for the great playthrough! I wasn’t sure about the game because of the complexity of the game ( and i watched “gaming rules!” playthrough too). The way you explained it and enjoyed it made me realised… hmm …I’m gonna back it in the KS! 😊
When the machine runs the experiment between 41:20 and 41:54, the second wind research tile should have been discarded because of the 2-player rule that if Lativ's bot helps running the machine, a research tile also gets discarded (rulebook page 23., 2nd bullet point under 'Gameplay Changes'). I feel like the player aid should include some visual help to remember all these extra 2 player rules that the board UI cannot include :)
You are correct and we fought this after posting! Most of the time we both were there so we took the tiles before Lativ could, but I knew there was one time we missed it. Good catch!
Thank you guys so much for a great video, it really helps showcasing the game :) There seems to be a big first player advantage, and as you get your research tiles, it just keeps on going, catching up is extremely tricky, which means that turn order gets way too important. In On Mars it was already pretty bad, but in WM turn order gets absolutely essential. I have all the other Lacerda's, and i'm sure it will be a success, but the dance to be first just ruins the fun for me, same goes for the projected price..
Lacerda games are about timing in addition to strategy. Which is why there are always ways to manipulate turn order. If you think being first is strong then go and grab first player. If you're passive about turn order in a Lacerda game you're probably not playing it very well.
@@XTCyan It depends on the game; Lisboa, the Gallerist, Kanban, CO2 it doesn't matter too much, your choice of actions and your choice which order you take those actions in, is way more important In Vinhos turn order is very important, but you spend 1 of your 12 actions to change the turn order and even then, the turn order will be readjusted after the fair. In On Mars I see many players, when they are forced to go to the space Station (to produce and get workers back), forgoing the turn order bonus in order to stay first, then spending their action on taking the emergency shuttle (only performing an executive action that round) because being first is so important. I love On Mars but imo, that is the least elegant and least fun part of the game. Weather Machine seems to have turned my least favourite part of On Mars up to 11.
I'm not the biggest Lacerda fan, but I have been intrigued by this one. I've been waiting for reviews to come out for this game so I appreciate your review. I'm not sold on it yet, but I still want to learn more. What I hope to find is a review by someone who does not like Lacerda games. That would be the most meaningful review for me because then I would be going into the review from the "same lens". Can you look into why your camera goes out of focus repeatedly when it's on you? It would go from clear to blurry and back again in a periodic cycle during your final thoughts. Thanks for your video!
Great point. We are definitely fans of the play style, so finding someone who isn’t a fan might be a good benchmark. I would probably ask what Lacerda games you have tried, then compare. To me this felt lighter (in the way it was a simpler strategy to grasp but still tough to master), somewhere between the Gallerist and Kanban but nothing like either of those experiences. I liked that we didn’t have kick out and executive actions in this game, but you did have executive exchanges and bonus actions through use of the subsidy tiles and goal tiles. I like that mechanic but it can be cumbersome with many players. The camera focus was set between us for some reason and kept trying to grab the background. It’s usually fixed on Anthony’s chest as an anchor but wasn’t this night. Hopefully you didn’t get too dizzy!
@@AntLabGames For a while, I was buying everything Lacerda on day one, but the only game I kept and still own is the original Vinhos - love that game. CO2 stayed around longer than others, but the use of "tracks" was losing enjoyment for me. Kanban and The Gallerist were tough to learn and tougher to teach. I skipped Lisboa, but bought Mercado de Lisboa and I sold that one off fairly quickly. That's all right. Different tastes. I think I might like On Mars, but would I ever get to play it? . . . I know my group, so the answer is not likely. I'm glad you're on top of the camera issue. It was a little dizzying for me (I think I'm more susceptible to motion sickness), so I just turned up the audio and did some cleaning while I was listening - still enjoyed your review!
I love your discussion of games, you guys are such great quality, and really excellent production too. I'm concerned about this game being very formulaic in its play, where there's kind of a set flow you have to follow each time and you can set up a fairly automatic flow you need to follow through the game, like a "wrong way" and a "right way" to play it to get the game going. Thoughts?
This is a great point. I was a little worried the primer would “spoil” the discovery of THE strategy, but I think it’s critical to understand the intent, then the game becomes about doing this most optimally. I think a lot of Vital’s games are like this, but you’re right that some people really like having many paths to victory.
Thanks A&F. I was leaning toward not getting WM but your play through may have pushed me off the fence... it does look quite meaty, and justifying the complex look of the board. I too own all VL's games, so weather is definitely now on my radar.
I also loved loved loved your comments regarding complexity and "weight". It's the decision space that's important... There are some games that are just mechanisms on mechanisms on mechanisms that chain around that's not decision space, that's calculus!
Thank you for the playthrough! How would you rate this complexity-wise with the other Lacerdas? It seemed like there are so many things to consider when taking actions or scoring, and failing to consider all of them has... consequences, as Frances was apt to demonstrate :) Also, really appreciated the discussion about heavy games at the end. Not sure yet if this will be worth backing. I've played all the Lacerda's except for Escape Plan, and only The Gallerist and Lisboa remain on my shelf. And neither hits the table nearly as often as I'd like. In any case, hat tip to Vital and EGG for putting this on Tabletopia, so there's a chance to actually try the game before deciding on whether to back it. Also, might want to try having the front facing camera on manual focus. With the aperture you are using, there should be enough depth of field to have both of you sharp even if you move a little during the playthrough. There was quite a bit of focus hunting on this video.
I think we will be doing a special list for this topic ;-) It was definitely different than others, in a more organized way, and the theme of academia was really unique. Frances speaking, because I feel I really grasped the strategy and theme of this one it’s at the top of my list with Lisboa and the Gallerist.
SUCCESS!! Thank you for this feedback. You have no idea how much time we spent trying to deduce the issue (especially because we couldn’t hear it). Glad to hear sound is back to standard again :-)
You had me at Lacerda. Great Job, This is a hard game to explain and is much easier to watch the flow. Learning the new language of the iconography can take a game or two. Recently picked up Kanban EV and the Gallerist and love them both.
We really have to give Kanban EV a shot. We owned the old version and traded it away; I think the art style made it seem to busy. It speaks to how well Ian graphically organizes designers’ ideas.
@@wsiegel9539 Yes!! And I believe he references his daughter in the rulebook as well with Lativ’s first name. I almost slipped so many times saying “Vital” by accident haha
Ooh top 50 might be a lot - we find we have a few really stellar games we would play anytime and everything else is like, ok or great for different reasons or audiences. Maybe a top 5 for each of us though ;-)
Well said about heavy games. I consider rococo and obsession to be heavy games, but they are so well designed that the accounting becomes intuitive-they don’t feel heavy. Same for On Mars--that is a heeeeeavy game, but there isn’t fiddling as to it. It’s tight. It’s fun. I played Kill Shakespeare…not a heavy game-but it was so fiddly it felt weightier than even On Mars.
It's one of the standing jokes on Heavy Cardboard channel that Rococo is the quintessential mid-weight game where all other games are compared to (e.g. how many Rococo's is this?) :-)
Hey! Our chairs are standard office chairs from Amazon and the height is adjustable, but 19” sounds right. They are a bit squeaky haha but the size is good. Honestly they do the job but we would love to find more comfortable alternatives.
We will definitely give Kanban another shot. On Mars is a unique Mars experience, and the latest expansion added some cool flavor especially for different sized groups, but to answer you question I think we will do a video on this topic - since we can really speak to all of them. I think we need to give Kanban EV a go first though! Barrage looks fantastic and we don’t have a good reason for not picking it up. It looks fantastic and we would definitely play on the channel. We will have to look for a copy at PAX, since we haven’t seen it at our FLGS.
@@MTalac I have Clans of Caledonia which is also a favorite of mine (but considered by many to be similar to Gaia Project). Might as well mention Brass Birmingham too, by we're getting way off topic now!
Thank you very much for this Video. Fantastic overview, and now I have the feeling, that I've got it! -> I think I'll join the Kickstarter. By the way: You really should play Kanban or Kanban EV. I enjoyed every time playing it!
Yep, it was slightly haunted this time. I think it was focused between us and kept trying to grab the background. Always something! Hopefully it didn’t make you too dizzy :-)
Just a tip, Frances, you can place the Award token at any time, it means literally any time, so in 1:30:51 I think you could have placed over the 4th row of studies to get 2 supply vouchers and then you'd have those needed to do the experiment.
Excellent point. I was saving the award token because we were getting close to the end and I wanted to finish the paper with the award, so that I could use my machine token for the breakthrough. We were getting close to the end and I was stuck on that. Now I wonder how that would have played out :-) In our experience with this game, it’s always 6 of one and half-dozen of another…so the 12 points I lost I likely gained somewhere else and I bet the inverse would have also been true. It’s such a great puzzle!!!
Also, at 1:40:00 Anthony could actually place the bot on the get a part spot on the snow extreme weather to get a part and with it do the snow breakthrough :)
My biggest concern is that the theme and mechanics place so well with the goal of the game that it's kind of a let down that there isn't a winning condition. Like you fix the weather or something...
34:50 I can’t seem to find the 2-player rule in “moving your scientist” section that gains you one science voucher AND one voucher appropriate to the location you move to if Lativ is on the leftmost space
Hi Marco, it is in two separate sections. The science voucher collection is on page 11 under the first and second bullets. You gain a science voucher if Lativ is in your location and also to your left. The extra voucher comes from page 23 “New Scientists” 2 player variant which allows you to count Lativ as another player for the purposes of gaining vouchers (but not paying them in supply).
@@AntLabGames thank you Frances, it’s odd because I thought that all the variant rules for 2-player games were also noted in each corresponding section of the rulebook, but this one apparently is only in the variant section at the end of the rulebook 🤔
I think that this rule is a variant within the 2-player rules change, that is you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. That’s why it’s not mentioned on page 11 where the other changes in a 2p game are instead noted.
@@Feldingor Correct Marco, it's a variant and you are correct, you do not need to play with counting Lativ as another player. It's a nice variant though to use for those new to the game while they learn and grasp all the mechanisms/balancing of not running out of Vouchers. :)
I like this style! From the Lacerdas you have played, which one is Frances's favorite for 2 players? (She is close in game preference to my wife ;) ). I'd like to add a Lacerda to our collection
Oooh good question. Frances here, and I will say this one is on the top of my list but I won’t include it since it’s not accessible yet :-) The Gallerist will always have a special place in my heart because it was the second game Anthony and I ever played (after viticulture) and was really what got me into the hobby. So, it was accessible enough to be intriguing and still challenging to this day. I also really enjoyed Lisboa at 2. It’s a similar challenging puzzle but with some economy that works surprisingly well at different player counts. Let us know what you pick!
@@AntLabGames 2nd game was a Lacerda!? I hope you were slightly in to the hobby before that, otherwise I'm amazed by Anthony's bold choice to land that pretty girl he just started dating :D.. I would have probably started at something like 7 Wonders Duel :P..
Hey guys! Good stuff. Can't wait to back this one! I have one question for you. I have to admit I'm a bit confused as to what exactly your brand is. Are you How It Plays across the board now? I still see a Geek Mavericks sign in the background there...is that still a thing? Is Ant Lab like the parent company or something or is that just defunct now? Just trying to keep it all straight. Enjoy the content either way, just wondering :)
Hey! Haha i know we are so confusing. Geek Mavericks is a side project where we talk about other things feel culture mostly outside of gaming. It’s something we do when we have things to talk about, after we watch a good series or read a good book, things like that. So Ant Lab never became GM, it is just another thing we do. We did form an LLC for Ant Lab Games to encompass How it Plays (our channel) and other business ventures in the gaming space. ALG just got a promotion, and we had been talking about rebranding the channel for a while since our scope has changed since Anthony first started, and then I joined so many years ago. I will say I’m not thrilled with the logo at the moment, so you may see some changes there, but no need to worry about the brand. We’re just growing up :-)
Thanks for the review! I'm about 90% sure I'm backing this. Only slight quibble is that I was thinking of backing this with the option of also getting Kanban EV at the same time (played the old Stronghold version and loved it). People have been saying this is very similar to Kanban, so now I'm a bit hesitant to own both...Any thoughts on WM similarity to Kanban from what you guys can remember?
I'm not Anthony or Frances, but I've played both (I'm one of the playtesters that Paul mentions below as having spent 18+ months on a weekly basis testing WM) and I would say the similarity that people are drawing from for comparison are the following - you have a single Scientist (factory worker) that visits 4 locations (departments) in that you then spend Vouchers (shifts) to perform 1 or 2 actions. Other then that, which is very small (in fact in The Gallerist you have a singular pawn that you move around the board to locations to perform actions), Weather Machine and Kanban are two very different games and both worthy of space on your shelf. :)
We sure did!! That was so frustrating especially because we couldn’t hear it. We were determined not to release anything else (especially this long game) until it was fixed. Several deductive experiments later and it seems we have fixed it. Thank you for the feedback!!
I hesitate on this one. Each time a new vital game was out, I saw it bring something new mechanic, gallerist : influence track, Lisboa : smart card play, on mars : two sides worker placement. In this one I don’t see anything innovative, I missed something or what ?
I agree with you, but nonetheless I find this game intriguing, maybe this one's quirk is the ability to choose your own goals. this is already present in the Gallerist (international market) and Kanban (meetings), but here the players have all different goal tile sets, and there is a drafting variant. Also, it seems in this game end goals my be worth 1/5 of the total points, while in the other games IIRC their contribution is lower.
I think what’s unique here is the power of the executive exchanges and opportunities for additional actions/supplies by way of subsidy tiles and goal tiles (in lieu of executive actions), and the entire breakthrough action which required a series of intentional tile placements (on the workshop, which requires machine tiles in one row, and in your office which requires papers of the same type.) for me (Frances) the overall machine of the game felt very fresh, since everything impacted everything else. That said, it’s not for everyone I’m sure, and hopefully watching how the game plays fully helps you decide if it belongs on your shelf :-)
This seems as dry an economic euro as Vital has made, and I'm not sure I'm into that. I really like that he typically has heavier theme integration than what's in this guy. Thanks for the overview!
@@AntLabGames I was wanting for her to spook you when she jumped up behind you on your chair. lol I thought for sure she'd nuzzle your hair or paw you for attention. lol
Love your discussion and playthhrough, but that constant shifting of auto focus made the video really hard to watch. Also, it'd be good if some of your b-roll clips were brighter, or at least on the same brightness level as other clips.
Great feedback and we agree completely. Focus is usually fixed, but kept grabbing background due to the AF this time. Thanks for sticking with it! Broll is shot on a different camera and lens, but we are working on standardizing that too.
This designer always has killer themes for his board games but I never enjoy his games. idk if I don’t like euros, his game designs, or heavy games but CO2 (second edition) was a big let down. Props to all who love his games, I wish I was among them, and I hope this game is the best one yet!
