Those boards are easily the most immersion-breaking component Ive ever seen in a game.

Thank you so much for mentioning and even trying the solo mode! It’s nice to see the coverage of solo modes increasing from completely ignored to maybe mentioned to fully included as part of the review.

I wish the boards had some kind of artwork, grass, dirt, trees, bushes, hills, mountain's or some River flowing thru the board. Huge missed opportunity.

I picked this up at essen for 40 euros. I play it mainly with my 7 year old son, we both think it's great fun. Sometimes you have 9 dice and roll 2 food. Sometimes you get all the resources you need but no hammers. Sometimes you make plans to build the cathedral, but the game ends before you can buy it, because you didn't roll enough trade goods. I like that it's not completely deterministic.

Terrible choice of ground colour (show-stopper for me). Apart from being an eyesore, it makes the yellow structures hard to visualise. For a future edition, I'd suggest a muted (greyish) green.

The review is much appreciated, this also tempers my excitement a little and I'll be looking to try a demo at GenCon before attempting a purchase. At least I like the idea of having a physical board over a pad of paper. Random aside: Love the little Hallgrímskirkja on your shelf! That's a beautiful church in an amazing city.

I agree with the complaints about the ugly mustard yellow boards. Would have been so much better if they were green. This game and the expansion went on deep sale in my area today. I got both because it seems like a very unique product. Looking forward to trying it.

Toughest part about this game is how much game is in the box versus the price tag. It’s essentially a roll and write (which costs 10-25$). This game is $50 (today) on CSI because of all the plastic, but still only plays as much as a roll and write.

Oh wow, that board looks *terrible*. As in, cheap 70s battleship board terrible. A printed overlay with landscape for the building area and assorted info around it would do wonders for this game.

Why would they use yellow as a color for buildings and things with the mustard player board? It clashes and is very hard to read. I don't know why no one mentioned that somewhere in the design process...not to mention that the color of the player board is terrible.. they are begging to be painted to have some actual visual attractiveness. Such a small thing that is actually a big deal in a game that is clearly meant to be visually interesting.

I'm definitely looking forward to see people's alterations to that base board. Hope the wash works well as that would be a nice and easy one to copy ^^.

Wow that box is huge

Wish for a mini edition with token buildings and cardboard board with actual art. Like most other games of this kind. Or at least a sticker pack for the player boards.

This was VERY high on my want list for upcoming games.... BUT seeing the actual components (mainly the board), I'm pretty disappointed. For the price I expect that the base board would be readable and a neutral color. I'm probably going to put this on my "wait and see" list and see if there is a 2nd edition that fixes the boards.

I think it is a cool game . Love the concept and the visuals and how it plays out. But over all a cool game

Oh wow, Roll Through the Ages is one of our top games. I was really looking forward to this :( A good reminder that preordering to save some money is never a good idea until you can get a good overview of the final produced game. Glad I waited, I'm sure the game is great, but for the price tag I would expect way better quality.

I actually own the game and I like how 3d it is. While playing I can care less about the yellow board. Unique board nice

It's interesting to see Tom saying his stuff about not being a solo-player now in 2021 :)

Sees the gorgeous box cover and clicks on the video to learn about the game. Sees the components, especially the boards and I'm thoroughly disappointed (was really anticipating art to mimic the vibrant colours and details of the box cover). The buildings are cool and the dice are nice enough, but it is all brought down by those absolutely terrible looking boards. I'm betting a lot of people will opt to paint or ink their boards to make them more tolerable, but honestly they just about picked the worst colour possible! Like just about anything is better than mustard yellow. I really wonder what on earth they were thinking picking it...

Would have made a lot more sense (and been easier to see buildings) if the boards were green, like you know... grass.

Surprised no one commented on the look of the boards yet ..;-)

I was wondering, where can I purchase more score sheets?

That board is straight outta the 70's.

Thoughts on comparing this to Saint Malo?

Good idea to wash/paint the board

If I get it, I will do my own art on the board, A couple of hours and it will greatly improved the look of the game. roads, trees, rocks, earth tones.

It looks like something I played with when I was a kid....in the 70s...and I wasn't happy even then with whatever it was I was playing with.

So when they steal a resource, it is the attacker or the defender who chooses what resource? Sounded like you said the defender chooses the resource.

I have both Bronze Age and Iron Age Roll through the Ages. I'm good.

Came for the component drop - stayed for the review.

you can apply a wash to the boards and the letters will pop a lot

Aside from the peg boards being super bland and yellow, it does look like a fun game. At least the model buildings look nice. Can't wait to try it out and paint up the pieces :)

Obviously, that big box leaves room for expansions and more buildings/dice. :-)

it seems the same scenario of Antiquity of Splotter Spellen but more easy, i like

I think the comments that this game could be a $15 roll and write are kind of funny. Having tactile pieces is not the same as drawing on a sheet. I think the next time my son asks for a Lego set, I'll tell him he can just draw a picture of the set instead. Also, this is a fairly favorable review. Tom gave this game an 8. That's pretty high for someone that plays games all the time. He said he was going to wash the boards which makes it sound like this game is sticking around.

Those boards look horrible! Nobody involved in production of the game saw that during the whole process?

Not thrilled about the board, but the game itself looks fantastic. I'll happily open my wallet for components like these. Completely uninterested in roll and writes, but this 3D style game is awesome.

Whoa, new outro!

9:56 - How important to the entire gameplay is the fact that the players have to roll dice BEHIND a covered shield? Meaning, does it affect others’ strategy knowing what you have rolled?

Amazing how much that awful, cheap yellow base throws off an otherwise decent looking game. What were they thinking?

Hmmm. I had high hopes for this one. But after watching this review my excitement has waned. I liked the idea of building cities and rolling dice, but it somehow just seems bland. I was hoping to see a Seal of Excellence for this one, but since I did not I think I am going to pass on this one. Thanks for the review though.

Everyone rolling behinds screens ruins it for me, hate that.

So this could have been a really good looking cardboard game board and pieces with thematic art...instead we get nasty looking plastic bits :(

Comes across like a very simplified version of Antiquity.

The Chinese manufacturer said that the yellow base would be 5% cheaper but 100% of prospective buyers would hate it.

I hope they make a cheaper version or an app.

*Gets as far as component drop* I need it!

Some of the images on BBG show a better looking board, maybe they have already addressed the ugly yellow boards.

Nice!! Been hoping for a SOLOable game that gives me an Age Of Empires vibe. I agree with the other comments regarding the board, though. Should really have come with a coloured overlay with further info. As it is here, it looks like it was made in the 70's or 80's. They could've at least made them green! That aside, this looks like it'd make a great gateway/family/holiday game 😊

I want to like this game so much but it makes my eyes hurt. The wash to the board is a good idea.

Its $90 !

The level of take that is bonkers here.

Disaster and culture tracker is ridiculous.. move 3 up.. wait.. were was i..?

"These dice are nice!" *Proceeds to smash them

Got this for 30 CAD worth it

Nice review but oh boy did I hate this one. The skulls and the swords add too much take that for me.

YAY FIRST! Im excited to hear a review of this game

looks like cribbage, and as interesting as cribbage

Seriously? That looks awful.

Love the lack of aesthetics.... lets you use your imagination.

Nah, it’s cute...

wow, just throw in the trash NOW, looks terrible ... come back with a $50 version that's trimmed down and doesn't look like sh&t, yow !!!