How much work does it take to really understand the game? I picked up small world, forbidden isle, and elder scrolls which have decent tutorials. A little trial and error was all I needed to understand everything. Caylus on the other hand required online videos and study session to understand. By that time I lost all interest in the game
While I did watch the Dice Tower review of the game before I attempted it, I don't think that much was even needed. It is really pretty straight forward, I think.
Three games and I felt 100 percent on the mechanics. It is actually pretty simple ... but initially feels totally incomprehensible. Reading the physical rules beforehand may (or may not) help. http://yggdrasil.ludonaute.fr/pdf/rules_EN.pdf When you look at the written rules and in game help there is a lot of Norse terminology and whatnot that really does not come into play in the game itself that you may initially find more confusing. In game everything is pretty much identified and conveyed by card/token pictures, die and rune symbols. At first you will probably feel overwhelmingly lost. But if you stumble through the (meager) tutorial and just champion ahead it should come clear soon enough. There is an always available 'Help' question mark in the upper left corner of the app ... hitting this at any point will provide you an on-demand explanation of pretty much every area and piece on the board. Using this combined with previously watching a couple reviews on YouTube and reading the rules is what got me through. Summary: It is nowhere near as difficult as it seems, but will require some effort on your part. .
Initially it looks like a jumble of pretty pictures, but after a few games and a lot of help button pushing it becomes more understandable. They have the physical game's instruction booklet built into the menu screen. It's tremendously helpful to read it through. I really enjoy this game as a solitare adventure. Tried getting the wife to play with me but she bailed after like 5 turns. Apparently TiVo > board games.
I have to admit the almost all pictograph system threw me a bit at first but once you get the basics of the game, the pictograph shorthand conveys a lot quickly without having to constantly read through a bunch of filler.
I'd say this game is only a little harder to understand than Elder Signs. I had a pretty good grip on all the mechanics after one game. I haven't dug into Caylus yet (guess I just like my mythological themes) so I can't compare.
It's not just spelling, but grammar as well. They could have paid an English speaking editor a few hundred dollars, if that, to clean it up. Its something that should be vital when a person creates a game. It may not be a bother to some, but I know for me it's a big irritation. I still bought the game, but I really hope it gets fixed. Thank you. This was a really nice post. I was REALLY freaking daunted. Mind you, I still am, but I'll give it another try..
no prob ... Hope it clears up for you. I think it is a really fun and tense game that feels very rewarding to beat because of the challenge level. It can be pretty tough and you will probably lose a lot on your road to figuring out a strategy you like. But I think you should find the actual physical mechanics of the game are nowhere near as impenetrable as they first appear.
I finally won!!! It was a real sense of accomplishment. The biggest difference in stragtegy I used was making sure that I got +3 cards for as many monsters as possible. It was indeed good advice to try not to rely on dice rolls.
