Let's Talk Board Games #11 - Board Game Reviews (QE, Root: Marauders, Downtown Farmers Market...)

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Welcome to our ninth episode of "Let's Talk Board Games," where we discuss and review several board games.

JUMP:
00:00 - Start
01:26 - Downtown Farmers Market
06:06 - Point Salad
09:52 - Ticket to Ride: San Francisco
13:51 - QE
19:52 - Root Marauders Expansion

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[sherd]

For Point Salad, you only use the full deck for 6 players. Otherwise, you have to take out sets of vegetables

[willreardon]

The Keeper’s in Iron definitely take a bit of getting your head around. NitroRev’s Root Channel has some particularly good strategy guides that really help. Loving your work btw 😊

[tonycorkpa]

I enjoy your content and the variety in format - enjoy your trip and Essen.
Two points on the games you covered -
1) Downtown Farmers Mkt / Point Salad - I recommend "It's Mine!", an older contract/quest in this space, designed by Dr. Knizia. I prefer the tension of the card deck being continually flipped until someone decides to either claim the deck portion already drawn or push their luck and wait to get more cards that might help in satisfying the various scoring criteria.
2) QE player elimination due to having the least money is similar to "High Society" (yes, I know I live most things Dr K :)

[nitrorev]

Great review of the Marauder Expansion guys! The Keepers in Iron are definitely the hardest faction to learn and it will take a few plays to get a good grasp of how to work their puzzle. My advice is

Build up the retinue ASAP. Bird cards in the first and last columns with suited cards in the second. Don't worry about ruling enough clearings to keep suited cards, just burn them and get the relics and recover them as quickly as you can. Don't be complacent about recovering them, the defensive power is not as good as it seems but it's highly effective on offense since you have 75% chance of taking no hits as attacker. Spread out and leave warriors behind in clearings with empty building slots for easy encamp and recruit, the more spread out you are, the more flexibly you can plop down a waystation and recruit up a big ball of Badgers. Decamp rarely, you want to have as many waystations on the map as possible because cards are super important, let the enemies kill the waystations for you so you can reposition them later.

There are plenty more tips and tricks in my Keepers in Iron strategy guide on my channel. I made it awhile ago before I had my Marauder expansion so the pieces are stand ins but the content is still good info to get you off the ground. Good luck and don't get discouraged, once you crack the Badgers they are one of the strongest factions in the game.

[someonemagical]

So keen to see your Maruaders Expansion playthrough! When I was first researching Root and deciding whether to get it, I watched all your playthroughs and it really helped me understand the game. Now it's probably my favourite board game. I don't get many opportunities to break out the physical box, but I've sunk many hours into the Switch version. Likewise, I'll be waiting to watch your playthrough before making a decision on Marauders.

[JeanDubuc]

I've heard the game explanation to QE several times and I can't still imagine how it actually works. Looks super intriguing, I want to try it out!

[elaine]

We have had a very similar experience with Keepers in Iron for Root. I love them but haven't seen them win yet. We'll have to change up our strategy until we can figure out a good balance.

[michaelyoussef]

Never heard of Downtown Farmers Market but it looks like it could be a future perfect addition to my collection, thinky but also simple, thank you for talking about it 😃
I will get the Marauders expansion once it releases here in Italy, but can't wait for your playthrough with the Hirelings!

[chandramohan]

Liked your review of Downtown Farmer Market. Looks simple but one has to think 2 steps ahead.

[Iorekbyrnison]

Downtown Farmer's Market reminds me of Village Green, a brainy little card game with many similarities. You should give it a try!

[AndrewLaValley]

I got QE (and the new expansion) via kickstarter, so I'm waiting to have it delivered. Should be by the holidays. It's definitely the kind of game I think I can get my family into.

[spacemonkeyentertainment]

What i love most about QE is playing with new groups (without established betting habits basically). It's just fun to see people experience the game arc for the first time. For that reason imo it wears out really fast, but imo if you play with different people a lot, there is a lot of fun to be had with it. Also, the mechanism of the player with the most expenses dropping out sounds really bad to a lot of people, which couldn't be further from the truth for me. The big reveal is always fun and the resulting discussion about where it went wrong really gets people talking (especially if people try to be sneaky and bid low on public info, but splurge when they want a tile or just going in guns blazing and getting the first 4 tiles, while everybody is gradually upping their bids. Just so many ways to mess with people's perception in this game) and reevaluating their bidding for the next game(s).

[SinfulJon]

What the heck..

I just found this channel in my recommended, but I have been subbed to your previous channel for like 10 years or so. I seen the thumbnail and was like; 'What the, is that Monique?'

That is crazy, just as you haven't posted to that other channel in several years. But anyhow, I'm glad to see you doing well, I'll sub to this channel and probably put a video on in the background while I work or something. Have a good one! :D

[Rainfall]

I love QE. So much fun. Definitely a game that I had no interest in theme-wise but suprisingly really enjoyed it.

[bgt]

Definitely check out NitroRev's channel, which has great strategy guides on root factions, including keepers of iron. But yeah, lord of the hundreds does seem strong when opposing players can't easily poop out warriors all around the map to waste their actions.

Our group broke QE after we figured out the "secret" to victory, still fun to see the face of newer players when they realize they're still bidding in thousands while the rest of the table are bidding in billions... Lol our group is so freaking greedy when playing this game.

[shortydancer]

I Iove riding the cable cars and thought they were pretty cool!

[JEV]

Just picked up the Marauders, Clockwork 2, landmarks, and all hirelings which was a hit to my wallet but after playing a three handed game to teach myself the new factions along with the one previous expansion I hadn’t learned yet I am so excited to try this out.

First impression is that Keepers in Iron feels to me like the Lizard Cult where it’s a little harder but also pretty rewarding if you don’t mind losing most of the time and enjoy the puzzle. Lord of the Hundreds seems like it’d be a great faction to hand to newer players.

Favorite hireling of the three I tried my first game is the stag, I think it comes in the underworld hireling box. Least favorite was the otter hirelings, but I may have been playing them wrong because something seemed ahem…fishy… about how many cards they handed out. Landmarks are cool but I haven’t tried the more interesting ones yet. I also like the new setup rules.

I managed to fit all content except hirelings and clockwork in single package by flipping one lid upside down, so even though it’s a lot of content it doesn’t feel overwhelming storing it!

[popgas]

Reaaallllyyy waiting for that Marauder's expansion 😭.

[stacie_everdell]

I've never been interested in Point Salad, buy my family would love the Pokemon (Eeevee?) version. I need to track that down.

[DanielRedMoon]

Getting into Root NOW seems like such a daunting task..
At this point, Leder Games should just let you custom make your Root Box (with the factions you want) as your personal starting set.