This game is for 8+ It would be nice to review it based on the target audience. I seems to me that for an introductory worker placement game aimed at younger audiences, this one fits the bill pretty well :)

16:07 Tom kept it together like a champ! I thought for sure he was going to loose it.

I enjoyed my one play of The River and would play it again. I agree with Zee: the game has an audience. It is very family friendly, meaning easy to explain and easy to play with good decisions and interaction. The River absolutely feels like a typical Days of Wonder game, consistent with their games like Ticket to Ride (I think Yamatai was not typical of DoW).

7:19 A missed opportunity for Sam to do his famous turkey sound... :(

Zee’s hand flourishes when explaining the game are so on point.

15:55 Tom tries really hard not to laugh at Zee's "The full canoe up" rating, but he REALLY almost loses it when Zee changes it to "the actual erect barn in which you can store your turkeys".

This is a very nice gateway game. We had a great time and folks were engaged with it. It's simple, and that's how my group likes it. This would be good at a family gathering to try and take the group away from Monopoly or some other terrible game and expose them to some modern mechanics. Hard cores will not be satisfied.

It seems to me like it's in essence a worker-placement variant of Splendor tweaked with expansibility in resource gathering (harnessed by storage constraints and still limited token quantities,) some spatial tactics on set collection for Noble rewards, and card-points redemption with reservation tactics.

"Other companies have started to catch up with Days of Wonder"... That you might have been able to say 5 years ago. Now its more accurate to say "many companies have exceeded the quality of build of Days of Wonder products"

I was able to play this at GenCon and it was just OK. I think I agree with Zee, it would be OK to teach basic worker placement. However, it is Days of Wonder and I always get their new game. However, I am going to wait until i find a great sale. Like a year from now. Thanks guys.

Catch up mechanisms are always welcomed.

Great thoughts and review on the game. Bummer Sam didn't make his turkey sound though.

Sounds like a fairly good gateway game to me.

Several new games have very limited resources. That is great, even for a gateway game (for the reasons Zee mentioned). Istanbul: The Dice Game has a great anti-hording mechanic: when you need a resource that is unavailable, everybody has to give one back to the supply, including the requesting player. It is less intuitive than limited resources but that is a solution. It works for Istanbul, maybe because it is different, but I would not house rule that to this or Trading on the Tigris, etc.

It’s sad that this was the last of the yearly big-box games, but I guess Yamatai was a good one to go out on

Seems like the shortest/simplest worker placement game ever. A good idea in principle, but maybe not so much in execution?

If this is simple what did you think of heat lol

There was Ticket to Ride New York this year. This is Days of Wonder’s top release.

I really was looking forward to trying this one, however I have to agree, it was at best a yawner. It was a fine game, but nothing to try again.

How does this compare to Agricola Family Edition?

¿would you recomend this game or agricola family edition?

Tom said that the losing the worker mechanism is a, "Stupid catch up mechanism." Isn't it the same thing Yinsh does that Tom enjoys about it?

wow, the new game from Days of Wonder is just an average game... this is awesome news, we finally got to the point where their quality is just average and there are enough better produced / better games made the same year. By other hand I wonder if they will be still the top of the crop if not for Asmodee? Well, the new big hits from KS released in 2017/2018 occupy me enough not to wonder too much about it.

A mini turkey token is clearly called a "murkey". Get your act together, gentlemen!

Wouldn't it be "Murkey"?

I'm honestly kind of relieved that this looks so basic because it's one less game to put on my list of games I want to play--and it's a long list! I already have Lords of Waterdeep for my basic worker placement game and am happy to stick with what I have.

It‘s a family game, introduction to Worker Placement. You should at least review it a bit from that perspective. You all sound like boardgame snobs...

meh... looks not good :/ Thanks guys ;) Love from Lithuania

Better luck next year DoW. This makes me sad :(

Man, a lot of duds out of this Essen.

Days of Wonder: *makes a game targeting families and kids* Dice Tower: "wait, that's illegal"

I was excited when I saw this in the list of videos, then they said days of wonder and I got really excited. then they cut to the game on the table and... UGH. Looks so boring. I was hoping for something like Yamatai or SOMETHING cool. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Disappointed with this one...was really excited about it after seeing the box, but looks very blah on the table and seems boring

While Zee was explaining the rules I was thinking man this is really bland and basic. What is going to be the exciting twist? This game is the definition of average.

I played this at shux. I was originally interested when I heard about it, but after playing it became a definite no.

It's Dice Settlers all over again. Doesn't look bad, but also doesn't look engaging. Its middle of the road at best. Whether that's good or bad is subjective. But nowadays it's not enough for me to purchase a game this day and age. Be willing to try it, but I'll save for something more interesting. Also, IMHO, I feel Lords of Waterdeep is a better intro to worker placement, so why was this even developed is my question. I guess a more palpable theme would be my vote, but to each their own

Niagara looks to be the better river game here.

Yup, the guys describe everything i feel about the game. It's just not interesting, it is boring and oversimplified and -streamlined. Played it at Essen and was really disappointed. I really hoped, that the theme would allow for nice twists, but there is nothing. It's not bad, but just super bland and kind of lifeless and plain. Huge miss for me.

How much you wanna bet DoW will come out with an expansion for this game that costs like $15-20 just to add a few more cards and tiles to the game, when it should have been in the box to begin with. Unless this game was meant for kids or overly easy entry level game I think its a huge dud from DoW. It's more like a game you want to play before you go to bed because it will put you to sleep. Even if they do come out with an expansion the new mechanics better be crazy good to salvage what is base game, because as it stands it looks like it has virtually no replay value. Also, artwork of the box is pretty cool, but the actual board is unimpressive. And I do agree with Sam about the basically nonexistent theme in the game despite it being called The River. Disappointing and sad face =(

I have to disagree with the aesthetics. They're far below "okay". I just cannot get past the fact that it has a single boring noun in the title yet the actual game doesn't even look like that noun! The main board is long and narrow, a perfect chance to make a river run through it. No! It would not have been that difficult to put a winding river from one end to the other and put all the resources on the banks of that river rather than on blocky islands. Those really kill the theme. And it's not unfair to expect more for Days of Wonder. If you're only doing one game a year, it should be awesome.

Although not a bad game, it’s bland. I can’t even say it’s for newbies or younger players, as the rules are certainly not as simple to teach as a heavier game like Yamatai. Kind of a bad mix.

If it's too simple for these guys it's a game for children.

Guys, guys, guys. They are MURKEYS (my turkeys).

Should be called THE FLOP.

Nothing about this game is attractive... The tiles, actions, and tasks look bland. Also, the lack of resources and the losing of workers later in the game looks too restrictive.