Isle of Cats vs Barenpark with Bryan

Bryan takes a look at these polyomino placing games featuring two different lovable animals!

00:00 - Introduction
02:32 - Barenpark game overview
04:12 - The Isle of Cats game overview
07:45 - Art comparison
08:37 - Gameplay comparison
10:07 - Overall comparison

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BGG Link:

[xshadowscreamx]

"Get both games, both not very expensive"

*Laughs in Australian*

[Atlas-FM]

My polyomino game ranking:
1. Feast for Odin
2. Patchwork
3. NMBR 9
4. Isle of Cats
5. Paris: City of Lights
6. Barenpark
7. Amerigo
8. Copenhagen
9. Arraial

Still need to play “in the hall of the mountain king” and “Planet Unknown.”

[dddmmm]

For me it is Barenpark all the way (with expansion preferably). Sold Isle of Cats. Barenpark has smaller box (w/ insert fits expansion in it), it is very strategic while very elegant, looks great on the table (specially with monorails), the whole experience is very smooth, it is just turn turn turn... where IoC is fiddly, takes longer to setup/teach, the rounds are broken into 18 different phases, it just feels underdeveloped in my opinion... And the box is giant... and I really hate the mechanism in which you pay for cards but opponents can't see the price on the card because they are secret so they have to basically blindly trust you are being honest (or not making a mistake)... So it is gone.

[remcovaniersel]

I bought and enjoy them both, they are different enough to co-exist in my collection

[dallastexas]

A couple of years later we have both yet play neither.

[aSyphodias]

Isle of Cats for me too. Also not mentioned is that Isle of Cats has a solid 'family' mode when you just want a quick game to play around with the polyominoes (no drafting in this mode) and also a good solo mode (that I actually play coop, making decisions together).

[benjaminspears]

How does table space compare? I know Barenpark takes up quite a bit of room but the player boards in Isle of Cats look huge! We already have Barenpark and we like the strategy where you can level yourself up to the pieces you want, so I couldn’t see myself replacing it.

[dpearson]

You state that you have to read lesson cards out loud including private lessons. In the rules the lessons are broken into a section for public and private, the public section clearly states read them out loud, however the private section says nothing about reading them, only says to place face down and it's public knowledge on how many you have. So it seems like you might be playing that wrong

[dannys_]

I've only played Isle of Cats once (at 2 players, which isn't great), but I found it far more punishing than the very simple Barenpark. Losing 5 points for an uncompleted room can be heart-and-game-breaking at the end of a game. Barenpark is just simple and elegant (like a lot of Phil Walker-Harding games) and can be taught to pretty much anyone. Isle of Cats is obviously a more involved game, but a bad draft can break it for you, as well as not being able to get tiles in the right size/colour. It also takes 90+ minutes, whereas Barenpark is over in 40.

Patchwork is probably my favourite polyomino game, followed by Barenpark. Cottage Garden isn't bad. I wouldn't mind giving Isle of Cats another go, with 3 or 4 players to see if it's better, but I suspect I'll lean towards to the simpler Barenpark most of the time.

[Vypper]

Both need to be owned. 'nuff said

[AthexTube]

Vs Feast for Odin, 3 enter one leaves

[martinpersson]

4:59 I find it extremely concerning that he doesn't even acknowledge the off camera velociraptor.

[scyldscefing]

It's a tough call. You're brave for making it. I'm going to disagree. But just by a bit. I love them both. I simply get more satisfaction from Barenpark. Thanks.

[squared]

I’m glad someone likes my BGB definitions!

[teeeeeveeeee]

Sorry...I LOVE BEARS!!! Barenpark for me!

[seancole]

Planet Unknown is going to be King when it comes out

[TheClydMan]

Cats, bears and multiple Lex Luger references? Thumbs up from me.

[Yaoau]

Barenpark >> Isle of Cats. Barenparl always hits the table, Cats rarely, and when it does player start to fall asleep... Cats is way too fiddly and always out stay its welcome

[jasteni]

Its called Bärenpark, not Barenpark. You could say Bearpark.

[apollonia]

Wow, you made me dizzy !
Wanted to watch and !listen but after a minuit I just !listened 😢
Sorry !