I like most of your responses, but I think the game does (by design) have a lot of potential feel bad moments. It's great that Cole designs these brittle games in which the experience is very driven by players, and lets so many different types of narratives emerge. But not every game is for every player, and I think it's fine if some players want to play games in which most of the potential feel bad moments are designed around, whether that be a low interaction euro, or a co-op. As a fan of both styles of game, I think I would be disappointed in it if a game like Arcs DIDN'T get some negative reviews because weird things happened (such as all of the ambitions markers piling on the same ambition) or some players were shut out of the game because of missing their opportunites for counterplay.

Dude. 3 to 4 hours for one Root game? I am so sorry. That sounds absolutely awful.

LET'S GO MA BOII. I love your style and presence. Sending a comment to boost ya.

"It is not a 4X game, it shouldn't be compared to a 4X game like TI4" I think I agree with some of the conclusion. But I think the discussion is incredibly valuable. TI4 might be the board game I played the most in my hobbyist life. I've struggled to find the magic that I was able to find in it back then. This incredibly involved engine for player relationships and board positions, diplomatic puzzles etc etc etc. That's the game I fell in love with, but the better I got at it, the more it became apparent the game can tell one story really well (cold war with civ building aspects) and is ill-equipped to frame the other stories for you. I feel it's on the table to bring those dynamics with TI4 nowadays. Now, some players I play with are absolutely still in love with the kind of planning TI4 rewards. But others can find it pretty restrictive. Most of the memorable single plays i've seen in that game were bad plays that the person removed from their arsenal in future games. You look at TI4, and you might expect it to be a permissive game when it's really specialized as a 4X / Civ builder. You look at Arcs and might expect a 4X when it's really specialized at the thing I just said TI4 struggles to accomodate. That's the area where I think it's important to keep comparing those games. You might play TI4 expecting those crazy maneuvers to be the game and probably will bounce off it in some part. And vice versa for Arcs. That point of comparison is incredibly valuable for players. I agree we shouldn't treat Arcs as a 4X, but I think the reference that exists alongside it provides a fantastic starting point to explain what it is and does well. I really struggled to explain why I was growing cold on TI4 before playing Arcs and Oath. And now I can explain what it is that bothers me about ti4 without punching it too hard.

One comment on the "childish art": I thought the background on the art style originating from Root was Kyle Ferrin making these animal characters for his children, and that style has carried forward to the other games. I know the reviewer meant it as an insult, but I can acknowledge that the art is "child-like" but I enjoy it.

Hmm.. the comment I would add about unlucky card draws is this. I caveat by saying I hope this is a niche experience where the odds just aren't high it'll happen again. We just played a game, where I drew a hand with no tax cards and no aggression cards. The only ambition options I had were for resources or tyrant. I had no way to get resources because nobody played a tax card that round, and even if they did I can only get one (since it's one action that i'm copying). Tyrant was useless to me because I had no way to secure cards - IE influence enough to then secure. So I think you can get stuck with cards where you cannot claim an ambition you can actually do, AND have no control if other players choose an ambition that doesn't work for you. In this case the three resource ambitions were chosen.. I'm not sure how this can be mitigated.

Good video. I am in agreement on basically everything. I think the problem is just people have an expectation of a game that "let's you do whatever you want to do" and then are frustrated because Arcs isn't meant for that. It's not a power fantasy; it doesn't hand you a trophy every time you make a choice. It's war. Every hand says "I'm sorry Mr. president, but your generals failed, the troops are freezing, and the people are nearly in revolt. What would you like to do?" I think a lot of people want an EASY game system to play against their friends. Arcs is a HARD game system (Punishing as opposed to complex); sink or swim Thanks for the great videos. I appreciate your perspectives on this and 6 siege.

Love this vid! Just a heads up, you can't secure a card that you influenced in the same prelude. Sorry to be that guy! Make more arcs vids! I wanna hear you talk about the expansion!!

I’ll never say anyone’s like, or dislike, of anything is wrong. I don’t like asparagus while other people do. Their like of it does not invalidate my dislike, nor does that make me wrong. Having said that, those who dislike Arcs, are, well, wrong! Just kidding. I agree with some of the criticisms, but for me, those criticisms are likes for me. One roll of the dice to determine the entire outcome? Great. No complex math or multiple dice rolls. Quick and efficient. A bad hand? No such thing. Adapt and be creative to the situation. The game wants you to think on your feet. The game rewards creativity. That doesn’t mean you can’t plan at the start of the round. Resources are huge in this game. The cards are just the fuel. The resources are the motor. Root is still my favorite Leder game, but this one has moved into the number two spot.

my board game crew is learning about TI rn and this video is amazing. Super underrated, I wish there was more TI strategy content on KZfaq.

Did it come with ingame codes for skins etc??

What a great critique! Loved how you went about doing so. Question for you. Unfortunately, my wife and I don’t have many people we can play games with, so we’re mostly 2 player gamers. She had a bad experience with Root, and she wasn’t so keen on Oath (I really loved). We do enjoy playing Eclipse 2 player and love Pax Pamir. What are your thoughts on Arcs 2 player? I know 3-4 are always better, but that’s just not an opinion for us. Thank you in advance.

I was Trying to figure out if i want to spend money/time on the game so came here, got confused. First review says that if you dont have the right cards you wont be able to do what you want to do. You say its wrong, and explain that you need to 'let the cards determine what you can do' in 5:05 repeating for multiple similar reviews... Arent you saying the same thing?what am i missing here?

Awesome commentary from all three. Looking forward to part two!

I love your content - keep it coming. Regarding your rebuttal to people complaining about the changes to the Arcs board design, I think you missed their point. Personally, I find that a lot of the negative feedback from the game stems from peoples comparisons to previous games, and what they don't get is that Arcs is genre bending/breaking. I think the people who were complaining about the changes in the board design thought Arcs was going to be a 4x space game. That's it. When it moved away from being a 4x (not sure if it ever was, but that apparently was their expectation / hope), they lost interest. It's the same thing as when people say, "every hand of Arcs is a bad hand." This is rubbish, but it comes from the expectation that you can or would want to lead every time, and that you SHOULD be able to use all of the Action Pips on every card in your hand in every Chapter, which is just ridiculous once you know how Arcs works. If people are willing to give it a shot, I think they'll really like it, but some people are set in their ways and will continue to view the game from the perspective of previous games. As we all know, Arcs is not like any previous game. Anyway, keep up the good fight. Like I said, I love the content on your channel. Your introductory review/tutorial on Arcs was AMAZING. It totally made me laugh, too. I was trying to figure out how to teach Arcs to my gaming group and I was worried that player's views of the game would be warped by expectations from other games. Your approach of teaching it to 2 other reluctant / negative gamers (both hilariously played by you) was perfect in that you're trying to convince them to give the game a shot. Just brilliant. Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Just played my first game this afternoon and I wish I had watched this first - made a lot of the mistakes you identified. Very helpful!

This is a really well made video! Would be great if you set up chapters so I could skip back to/forwards to different parts :)

Thank you for making this guide! Now I just have to convince my group to get it haha. We have one player that I swear prefers no player interaction AT ALL so it will be a hard sell.

wow，what a great write up and production, I just had my first game of arcs today, and find your video incredibly relating and insightful🎉🎉

This might be the source of the 4X confusion: ARCS ~ 4x Trick-Taking in Space ♣🌌 | Kickstarter Board Game Preview - video by ThinkerThemer

"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." I have had the displeasure of watching the shine fade from a lot of eyes when I tell them that even if you're amazing at a game, you're still going to lose sometimes. That's how games work. And if you're playing with good players who want to win, you're looking at a 25-ish% chance of winning. Playing board games is supposed to be fun. I have fun playing the games; it's the competition that I want. Winning just means the game is over. Who played the best that time isn't nearly as important as whether or not everyone had a good time. Also, getting upset that you have a handful of the same cards in a trick-taking game means you didn't understand what kind of game you were playing. That's the kind of hand where you start cackling like a hyena and loudly declare an Ambition.

Thank you for sharing your tips. I'm waiting eagerly for my copy to arrive. Is there a discord for Arcs players on TTS?

I like how the map looks now but the ones between ks and the final one still looked gross 😂

In this day and age, I think most reviews are misleading. Most often then not, it's a first impression as it seems many people play a game once and move on. It's not bad in itself, there's plenty of games out there, it can be justified to focus on only those that would blow you away on the first play. But I feel being overly critical of a game on a first play is a bit unfair. This is one of the reasons I take BGG rating with a grain of salt.

So I played an early prototype of Arcs and I wasn't a fan it felt restrictive in actions compare to Oath which I adore. I think the map might be part of it. I remember someone having access to early fuel which let them move more freely while I felt like most of my turns were sub-optimalm having trouble to seize the initiative. I also compete against another player for a card in the market and we spent multiple turns and round to try to win it. I finally lost that card to that player and it felt like I spent most of my actions to gain nothing out of it. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. But, I'm very open-minded and I would definitely try Arcs again now that it has changed so much. Oath was once my #3 ranked game and I could see Arcs climbing that high too for me. My biggest issue, I feel like, would be that I feel like Oath and Arcs would fight for the same tabletime. If you have played both, it there one you prefer over the other or do you feel like both play differently enough for you to have space to own both in your collection?

Oath Frog memers - REPRESENT!

Is arcs available at game stores yet? My algorithm is bombarding me with this game lol. Also, do you think there’s a steeper learning curve than Root?

Listen, I came to this video expecting a reaction to negative reviews. And I got something totally different! This was a review of the negative reviews, not at all what I paid for. Lol, loved the video. It drives me bananas when people talk about arcs like it isn't the game they kickstarted. The irony that a simple review of kickstarter page knocks that argument dead 😂

Excellent review man, I really want this😂

Every time I have played, my wife has won. This suggests that it’s not just a luck fest. Granted there is a lot of randomness but I don’t think the winner is determined by luck, it’s more like a fighting arcade game in that a lot of things you try get blocked and when your good you learn to chain together combos and if you play against someone who understands the combos better than you you lose. Also, like a fighting game, being good has a lot to do with reading your opponent and anticipating their move.

Second campaign playthrough I've seen where Steward bosses round 1 and believer can't get anything going. A liiiittle worried about balance

When you say 3+ do you mean "three or more" or "more than three"? It should mean "three or more" but from the way you were talking about it I got confused on which you meant.

Have you played Cosmic Encounter? I’ve been playing Cosmic Encounter with my group for almost a decade now and it’s still by far our favorite game. Several mechanics in this game remind me of CE, so I was curious if other people saw the comparison. Keep up the videos!

Thank you, this was amazingly useful.

Really like your videos! Leder games is my favorite publisher currently, I love almost all of their games

I think the word your looking to as a counter to strategy, is tactical, Arcs is very tactical

Awesome video! Can’t wait to play it

Look, I haven't played the game yet. But simply contradicting peoples oponions as 'that's just wrong' doesn't exactly feel nuanced...

What sleeves did you use?

I don't know, man. I have seen people AP things that they have no business APing. There are just some games that aren't for some people, and this is just the way it is. You can tell them the right way to approach a game, and they'll still AP the shit out of the game. There are some games I don't intoduce to some people cause they literally can't seem to not be an AP monster about that game. I think that it can be true that you love Arcs and for you ita a fast and snappy game. It can also be true that the design of Arcs encourages AP in some people, and for some its gunna be a nightmare slog. You have to accept that

Love the game and agree with pretty much everything you said. The only thing I'm having a tough time figuring out is it can feel really hard to take back the initiative in some instances in a 2p game, and that can snowball really fast.

... Ok I'll subscribe.... How much social tabletop fun/banter is there? You should consider writing the sales copy for this game and pitch it to Leder Games... Seems like lot of these comments had different expectations. Nice job pushing back on the negative reviews - you were meme-ing hard bro. You could edit this to do hard-hitting pushbacks.

Well done... Not sure if I'll subscribe but dang this was a good overview giving me a feel for what gameplay is like

enjoyed the video! very excited for the campaign review. i just finished my first ever campaign and my opinions are... mixed despite loving the base game, so I'll be interested to hear your take on it.

It seems like most push back for Arcs comes from a place of misplaced expectations. However the game is such a different beast, and so much more than the sum of it's parts that it's difficult to pitch the game to potential players to correct their expectations. What should someone say this game is, to get them hyped for the game that they're actually going to play?

I admit I did not like the map until the final proofing, but I could see the difference right away compared to the early in-studio game streams. The early game was plodding but I do love the snappy, reactive map we got. The tiles to cover parts of the map are also great to make board set up so much more entangled and interesting.

OMG, FANTASTIC VIDEOOO I fear for the 2 yellow ships in the bottom left corner, that maybe are there by accident, lol, and we don't see them again :-P. Edit: they are scrapped, for the Blight Speaker, so no problem at all!!!! :-P Thanks a lot for this playthroughs. My God, Snoopy is a beast.

Love your explanation, detail, and concept of having yourself talking to different versions of yourself! I might recommend reading off bullet points rather than a script, as it feels more like you're "acting" than speaking to the audience, which is entertaining but makes the info a bit harder to consume. Look forward to hearing more!

Love this format of review. You really covered the questions I'd would have without a boring rules overview at the beginning

Not shown: an hour and a half of overanalyzing prelude actions