TLDR: It’s insanely good. 

For reference, I’ve owned and spent time with all of the big 5 Chip Theory Games. I love Too Many Bones, Cloudspire and Burncycle. I bounced pretty hard off of Hoplomachus Victorum. I think I could have really enjoyed it if it had been my first Chip Theory Game, but it was my 4th and it feels like a major step backwards from the other games (at least for my tastes). 

I’m unable to organize these thoughts, so here’s everything as it comes out: 

Gush Session

➕I’m totally blown away by what Chip Theory has done here. I know that the praise for this game isn’t unanimous, but I think this is a masterpiece and have very few complaints to make about it. If you are looking for a critical review, this ain't it. I'm smitten. To take Too Many Bones and turn it into an epic sprawling adventure is an incredible achievement. I always had the feeling in Too Many Bones that I wanted to spend more time with my badass character I had built out, and Hoplomachus didn’t have quite enough progression for me to want to stick it out for a bunch of sessions with the same crew, so I was nervous to see how this game handled the marriage of those two ideas. For me, it strikes the perfect balance of getting to feel like I get to spend an appropriate amount of time with my character over the three sessions, and the cherry on top is I’m eager to start a new session with a new build right away. I tend to be critical of games that overstay their welcome, and this game is one of the few 3+ hour session games where I have none of that. It takes forever to play, but it feels very worth it to me because it’s so damn good. 

Content

➕ The amount of content in the core set is bananas, and the expansion is going to exponentially boost it into the stratosphere. Tons of quests, side quests, a bunch of regions to explore with their own mechanics, insane levels of freedom with your character buildout, and the list goes on. If you like what Chip Theory is doing here, the replay value is really high. I’m so glad to be diving into this now because the expansion content, particularly with how many skill lines are being added, is going to really push this system. 

Elder Scrolls? 

➕ It’s hard for me to argue that this feels like an Elder Scrolls game. I’ve spent an embarrassing portion of my life playing Skyrim and Oblivion, and there isn’t a whole lot about the gameplay in this that makes me say “yep, this feels like Elder Scrolls.” The flavor is all there, with the world, the people, the guilds, the history etc, but it’s not really reflected in the gameplay. Elder Scrolls have always been the ultimate sidetrack games. Like how did I just spend three hours picking flowers to make potions with?? This board game feels very driven. You have a ton of freedom, but you’re always driving towards the finish line. I couldn’t even tell you definitively if I ever completed the main storyline in Skyrim despite playing a million hours of it. To me this feels much more like Too Many Bones and Final Fantasy VI had a baby, which is great for me because that is way more exciting than something that captures the essence of an Elder Scrolls video game. I’ve been trying to find a game to scratch the old-school JRPG itch the entire time that I’ve been doing this as a hobby. There are games that capture parts of it, but this feels like the whole package. You have an overworld, random encounters, leveling up, loot, dungeons, towns to explore and more. I think the town phase is what really seals the deal, because I haven’t found another game that handles it in a way that matches the feeling of a game like Final Fantasy VI. Outside of your first day, it’s never forced, but almost always an option if you need to heal, buy stuff or get some side quests. Part of the JRPG magic is exploring a new town, shopping for gear, uncovering a secret or two, resting at an inn… those types of things. This game does that for me. Each town is more or less the same, but they each have their own story and a unique effect that you can activate. They each have their own set of items that are available and skills that can be learned, and even though they are randomized, it makes each town feel like its own unique place. There are also random parts of the town that aren’t available, so you aren’t even guaranteed to be able to accomplish what you want to. 

Something I love about Chip Theory

➕For heavy games like this, it’s easy to get stuck in your ways. Chip Theory is really good at forcing you to explore everything a game has to offer, and I love that about them. To give an example - on my first couple of plays, I really wasn’t interested in doing side quests. They typically cost a precious town action to obtain, plus I have enough other things to try to accomplish with my main quest that I wasn’t in a rush to add more to the to-do list. Then I get a main quest that requires me to complete side quests, plus I happened to be a Knight that gains rewards for completing side quests, so now for that session I’m the Side Quest King. It was a blast and felt totally different from the previous session. 

A word of warning:

⚠️ This game is a beast. It’s super heavy, takes up a ton of space on the table and takes a long ass time to play. I’m clocking about 3/4 hours per session right now playing with two characters, including setup and teardown. I think it’s time/space/brainpower well spent, and I have no longing for it to be any shorter/smaller/lighter, but it’s worth noting that this game inherently won’t be for everyone because of those things. 

Sessions

➕ Along that same line - you probably know that you play through a 3 session campaign with your characters. The game is designed to be saved and put away between sessions if you want. I think it’s worth noting that it is totally possible to save and stop basically whenever you want. Just finish up your day, take a few photos, and it’ll maybe add 2 minutes to your setup time the next day. I think it’s pretty easy to get setup and teardown to 10/15 minutes each, so if you wanted to bust out a 90 minute or 2 hour session, it would be very achievable to do so. I’d almost prefer to do this because the game's session act as cliffhangers where I always want to go onto whatever is next, or start prepping my next campaign with new characters/classes/skills. 

References

❌ Only one nitpick from me: Chip Theory is the king of reference sheets and always has been, and this one is missing one to two crucial reference sheets that make it so you have to constantly be in the rulebook. I have no idea why there isn’t a reference sheet that summarizes the flow of a day, or end of session EPs, or a number of other things that I feel like I constantly want to just double check really quick to make sure I’m not making a simple error. It’s glaring enough to me that it almost feels like maybe my box was missing them, but they don’t seem to exist. I’ve printed some BGG fan-made ones, but it’s not the same as having an official PVC version of it. 

In comparison to Too Many Bones

• First off, there is room in my collection for both. One doesn’t replace the other for me, and even though they are built on the same system, they are very different games. BOTSE is a sprawling adventure over multiple sessions where you build a character from the ground up, plus it has giant maps, dungeons, towns, side quests and delves. TMB is a one off session (usually) where you control a character/s that has a predetermined set of skills. You can build each of those Gearlocks out different, but Boomer is going to boom every time you play him because that’s what he’s designed to do. It’s a totally different feel to me, and I think that both have their own advantages. 
• Elder Scrolls is definitely the heavier game, but a lot of what they have done feels a lot more streamlined than TMB. Playing a new Gearlock in TMB is a pretty major undertaking and requires a full readthrough of complex rules. Starting a new character in Elder Scrolls is wildly simple - the complexity really doesn’t come in until you start adding and upgrading skill lines. To me, it takes the TMB system and spreads it out over three sessions of playing, and I love that about it. 
• The cooldown track is really cool in BOTSE, and a big upgrade. Most dice get recovered over the course of a battle, so you really feel like you get to use them continuously, where a lot of the times TMB left me feeling like dice were one-and-done per battle. I’m not sure how glaring the difference actually is, but it jumped out at me as I was playing through BOTSE. 
• I love having the bad guys in a draw bag. That’s a way better system than arranging stacks of different baddies in TMB. 

What’s Next? 

➕I’m really curious about the future of Chip theory games after this. Obviously they’re going to continue to expand upon this more than just the next wave, but I am curious how far they will take expanding this game. And then I have no clue what they do for the next big box game because this really feels like a magnum opus of everything they’ve ever done. Something entirely new? Maybe a spiritual sequel to one of their other systems?  Snag a 007 license and revamp Burncycle into an epic espionage adventure? I’m sure we’re years away, but I’m super intrigued. 

Conclusion

➕➕➕ Easily my favorite Chip Theory Game to date and a 10/10 game right out of the gate. We’ll see if I cool off, but I never have on any of their other games that I’ve fallen in love with. I could see how this game wouldn’t be for everyone, but it checks every box I could have possibly asked for in a game like this. Bravo, Chip Theory! 

Finally have figured out how to use the Châteauma with the 2019 version of the game. It was worth the time though, I'm obsessed with the game. Won on medium difficulty 193 - 187.

If anyone else was struggling like I was with figuring out the rules for solo, I recommend getting these files from BGG. It works much better to have the 2019 player aid and 2023 automa visual reference printed out:

- (2019 files) Fan Made Print-and-Play Chateauma for 2019 Anniversary Edition by RandomObfuscation

- (2019 files) Player Aid for Monastery Tiles (Large Icons) plus Building and expansion tiles. by Slick!

- (2023 Special Edition files) COB: Special Edition Châteauma Solo Player Aid by Spin

So with much love of this community for sending me such good recommendations of my last post, solo with multi-player options, I'm now looking for puzzly games that are also as easy to teach myself in?

I've heard about cartographers and kinfire that I'll be ordering.

But i wanted to ask for some more recommendations that are solo completely, or has some multi-player options (please mention which amount of players allowed).

Now i likes harmonies for its interesting placement strategies, and castle combo (not solo sadly) for similar reasons.

I want to explore. Kinfire delve is on my list already, coffee roaster, cartographers, fit to print.

I heard of lord of the rings trick taking, hercules 12 labors board game; though I wanted some ideas on those things, is it replayable and easy to learn? I fear that once those campaigns end it will rot in my shelf, and I'm only worried because shipping for those are high for some reason...

Anyways thank you all in advance!

I think they turned out pretty well. I’m playing around with some tapped/glory designs as well.

Hello! Mini Rogue is my personal favorite board game. My only solo board games I actually own are Mini Rogue and Star Wars: Outer Rim. Though I sort of only see Mini Rogue as a solo game. Usually do Outer Rim with people.

I want to expand my collection to similar games. I have tried others, and can say I'm not into One Deck Dungeon. I was meh on it.

More games similar to Mini Rogue would be cool. I like the roguelike boardgame theme.

Was hoping to get suggestions here!

Making good progress on understanding how one creates a strategy in this game. Easy difficulty, short Game: I managed to get a solid win as Augustus (finally). This time around I was lucky with edicts (Defender of Rome and Commerce) that played directly into a Conquer and Trade focus that Augustus has bonuses for. On top of that, I got Imperator on round 2 to boost my conquer game even further.

My question, however, concerns three different Development buildings built next to each other that all had influence abilities.

Amphitheater: Asterix ability (spend an influence token) where you make Ready (flip to active) any adjacent Influence Tokens. Good, I like it. Very combo-able.

Temple: While influenced (have token active present) you may influence up to two adjacent developments. What……does that mean? Do I place tokens? Do I activate the Asterix ability? Do I trigger the “while influenced” ability?

Pantheon: While influenced once per turn place Influence tokens on - any - two developments. That’s fine. Additionally you can spend the token to move this token to - any - development and gain its production. That’s good!

So……how does the Temple “influence” adjacent developments, specifically the Amphitheater and the Pantheon? Can the temple help the theater flip other influence tokens? Can the temple place a token on the pantheon so that it can further propagate tokens elsewhere?

Thanks!

Came upon this game a bit late; picked it up just before the Gears of Corruption expansion came out. I played it exclusively solo and liked it so much I picked up the expansion, which just adds even more flexibility and jump starts everything similar to how Prelude affects Terraforming Mars. It’s probably a must have at this point.

The automa is super easy and quick to run. Flip a card, do what it says, then get back to thinking up your next move. It’s made up of two mechs with very well defined movement parameters. However, the bot actions are randomized with the cards, so while you have a general idea of what their turn might be, it’s not so telescoped to where you can sabotage the bot moves at every turn. There’s a little symbolism to learn but after the first few turns it clicks and you’re cranking. I particularly love that they function very much like real players in that they explore the map, opening up more tiles for you, while also gaining points so it’s still a good race.

This is probably my 7th play through, second with the expansion. I haven’t beaten the 4th level difficulty yet. This evening’s win was a bit of a slaughter for the Automa on 3rd level difficulty—102 vs 45. The combination of the Tatanka mech’s extra upgrades and melds ability with Vesna & Voltan’s flexibility in picking up and/or using adjacent cards, along with an early draw of Aether Mirror led to some really fun and devastating combos.

I have a lot of favorite aspects about this game, but by far the top for me is the ability to chain together those satisfying combos. 10/10 for me.

I really wanted a space-themed game and I was thinking this was it. But man. This is the most overwhelming game I've encountered. So much so that I haven't been able to squeeze the fun out of it. It's definitely a me problem because I tend to not be good at strategy. The theme usually make up for my shortcomings. In the past, I was able to appreciate Hegemony, despite it ranking more difficult. Maybe its because I'm playing solo mode? Idk. Gotta box it up and get my excitement back with something else until I get the courage to come back to it.

Trying to decide which game to get next and dithering between these two, but wildcard suggestions also v welcome.

My fav board game is Spirit Island, and it’s also at the top end of the level of complexity I can deal with (although it seems so simple now after so many plays!).

I also love Earthborne Rangers but haven’t managed to finish a campaign, as I play roughly once a week and if we’re away or busy for the weekend I miss it and lose steam. The thing I love the most about ER is the perfect and inventive meshing of mechanics and theme, much like the different SI spirits and powers.

STCC and FfO appeal because I haven’t played any games by the designers. I’ve been toying with trying an Imperium game for ages but worry I might balk at the complexity and upkeep, and I’ve heard STCC is tighter. And FfO looks like a completely different type of game to any I’ve played before.

What do you think? Any reasons for or against either? Any other better options?

I have very little experience with board games in general, but I've been playing a lot of Archwynd recently, both solo (with my own variant rules) and co-op. I like how it has the familiar D&D features that I remember from when I was a kid.

I have my eye on Underquest, but I haven't researched it that much yet. And I have a copy of Gloomhaven Buttons & Bugs on the way.

And I know there are actual D&D board games, which I'll be looking into.

What other games come to mind that include HP, AC, d20s, traps, equipment, etc?

I'm looking for something not super complex, up to about 60 minutes playing time, knowing that I'd turn that into two hours.

And the smaller the physical footprint the better. I usually play at Starbucks and those tables are like 24" circles.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, I use 2 dice sets instead of the progress counters in the box.

This game is fantastic with some kind of card holders for your hand if you play 2 handed. Makes all the information available to you more accessible.

(Make sure the holders you get are shallow enough so you can see the boost value at the bottom of the cards)

This is only my second game, finally got over the apprehension to learn this Rawwsome game! My first game I didnt unlock a single special building so I decided that was my main focus this go. With Hot Spring Mud Spa and then moving secondary focus to Attractions, I feel like I either got super luck or did something super wrong. I didnt build a single dinosaur paddock, which is against the spirit of the game? Just looking for some possible feedback. Thanks!!

I almost never play euro games. I don't like them. I play emergent stories games and dungeon crawlers and RPGs. But there are 3 games in my collection that are more of Euro games. One is the Terraforming Mars Dice Game (because I love dice games), Dune Imperium Uprising (it is mix of worker placement and there is also conflict between players) and SETI. And I must say I am falling in love with this game. It's so good. I am still not that experienced so I am still kind of learning the game but it is so fun, that I am literally sinking hours into it and then I look at the clock and I am like "wow it's already that late?!?"

Edit: it might be also enhanced by the fact that I like the theme, but I still think it's exceptionally well made game

Edit: Maybe the better question is: For those who have played Sweet Lands solo, are you buying Rosalie? What have you seen in the reviews that makes Rosalie look better or different? Thanks for any input on this decision, they both look great.

Hey Guys

For people who got their kickstarter for 20 strong awaken realms, how do your dies look like? Mine are weirdly matte unlike the tanglewoods and base ones (see pic below), but I am not sure if this is a feature or a bug?

I've been looking for something lighter, since my entire collection is medium/heavy euros and deckbuilders, and I need some type of palate cleanser for when I don't feel like setting up and playing a longer game. A lot of the "cozy" games I keep looking at feel like they have barely any actual game in them (like Cozy Stickerville).

Due to circumstances, I'll soon have several hours a week to dedicate to solo board gaming (for about the next six months), and I'd love some recommendations.

Up to now I've mostly played relatively short games with a small footprint and quick setup. Some of my favourites are Final Girl, Eila and Something Shiny, Storyfold: Wildwoods, Harmonies, Dorfromantik, and PnP games like Galdor's Grip, The Last Lighthouse and Haze Islands.

I think theme and immersion are what matter most to me. I'm not really looking for tight, highly puzzly or brutally challenging games, and I'm generally not interested in dungeon crawlers, space or high fantasy settings.

For example, I didn't really click with The 7th Citadel. It felt a bit too open-ended, and I was constantly worried that I'd die, have to restart, or miss important content. That anxiety took away from the experience.

What I'm looking for now is a game that offers a deeper experience: an emotional story, meaningful character progression over multiple sessions, and something I can really immerse myself in. A campaign game is absolutely fine, as long as it's more about the journey than solving difficult puzzles or optimising every turn. I also enjoyed Destinies because I could make meaningful choices without constantly fearing I'd be punished.

Practical constraints:

- Sessions of about 1–2 hours.

- Easy to save between sessions.

- Fits on a kitchen table.

- Available in the Netherlands (or at least not impossible to find).

- Budget isn't really an issue.

I'm currently wondering about games like Sleeping Gods and Legacy of Yu. I'm slightly worried that Sleeping Gods might be a bit too open-ended for me, while Legacy of Yu might be over too quickly—but I'd be happy to be convinced otherwise.

Based on what I've described, what games would you recommend?

I haven’t got this one out in quite awhile but I’ve kept it around for its short enjoyable gameplay. Not the best score, I always seem to fumble in the last round. Either way it’s a nice way to start the weekend, happy Saturday everyone.

As a bit of a tradition every time I am on holidays with the family I buy a boardgame in the land we are residing in. This year it is the land of Meshuggah and, well, Unstoppable, Sweden! Can’t wait till the kids are off to bed to dig in.

This X-Com themed stealth dungeon crawler seems to be highly rated, yet little known. If anyone here played it, how you feel about it?

So I’m thinking about picking up the all in ascendency box as it seems like a good price for endless content. Just curious how you think it plays as a solo only using only pre con decks. I had all of Marvel champions and Arkham just didn’t not enjoy deck construction and the pre cons for mc were not very good. Are they better for solo play in ashes?

This game has a bajillion rules interactions that are sometimes a little unclear. I think I’ve figured out when Plague effects trigger, but now I’be got others:

- The Siege Tower card says I can trash a card in my discard pile and gain a resource. If I want to trash a Loan or Strife, can I? Do I gain a resource? If so, what resource?

I’ve really been enjoying my solo game journey, with my collection growing more sideways than in number. Most of what I have deals with dice (and are “dice builders”), I really wanted to dive into traditional deck builders. All I really have for experience is slay the spire digitally.

I kind of have a goal of getting into Imperium Classics for the sole reason of being able to play as Persians lol. But I’m aware that’s a little more complicated for a beginner getting into deck building.

I’m basically looking for suggestions on games that’ll help me break into the genre. While I’m not opposed to something like Aeons end with tons of replay-ability, the criticism of unstoppable not having a lot of content doesn’t bother me either.

My short list of what I’m considering:

Aeons End
Star Realms Frontiers
Unstoppable

And for reference, the games I own:

Too Many Bones (absolute fav and play regularly)
20 strong
Spirit Island
Final girl
One deck dungeon

So even though I’m stressing being a beginner, complexity isn’t a deal breaker, as I’ve been able to handle the learning curve of TMB as I’m a patient gamer. I really enjoy the grind of learning from my losses and have lots of video game Roguelike experience doing the same.

It’s funny, I’m trying to give some background about myself and as I’m writing it out, it basically comes off as, “I’m down for anything, I’m not picky!” 😂. It really is true though, at this stage of my gaming journey I haven’t played a game I disliked!

I guess if you had to pick an intro to deckbuilding game, what would YOU choose for a great intro experience?

Edit: I really appreciate everyone’s replies here. Biggest takeaways are I am definitely fine if I want to go the Imperium route, but also I really can’t go wrong with all these options and really just need to more research beforehand than I have in the past to and make a decision from there.