Blood Rage vs Rising Sun - Play This, Not That

Blood Rage and Rising Sun....two games in the area control trilogy from Eric Lang, CMON, Adrian Smith and Studio McVey. Bringing you tight combat, amazing production values and the tenseness of a good area control game. Both are amazing games, both are in the BGG top 100, both feature on many "Top X" and "Favorite Games" lists....but which one is better? Which one should you be playing?

TimeStamps:
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:00:24 - Why These Games Are Worth Comparing
0:02:10 - Price
0:03:08 - Ease of Learning/Teach
0:03:56 - Art & Components
0:05:31 - Theme
0:06:30 - Mechanics
0:14:22 - Play This, Not That
0:18:03 - Closing Up

[cfosburg]

11:00 I would say the stakes are much higher in Rising Sun and the hidden bidding mechanic creates a delicious mental game of out maneuvering and out guessing your opponent.

[benpuckett]

I have loved Blood Rage for a long time and find it's much easier to teach and play quickly. I've had two 5 hour long games of Rising Sun, at 5 players, and it's been some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It made my friends, who weren't exactly unfamiliar with boardgames, realize just how incredible a gaming experience can be.

[tomee]

These aren't questions ANYONE should ask. It's like asking which is your favorite kid. LEAVE ME ALONE!!! **hugs my Lang games tightly**

[fingolfinfinwe]

Yes in combat (Rising Sun) you both lose the coins you spend, but the winners coins go to the loser and can be used for future battles that round. Plan accordingly and it can be quite the boon.

[fingolfinfinwe]

I prefer Rising Sun by a good bit. However Blood Rage is simple and easier to get to the table. Absolutely keeping both. :)

[raphaelstocker]

Thx for this. Although I prefer RS to BR for the negotiation and strategy part I do feel you loving the drafting. Would like to pla both games again asap

[cfosburg]

I always say Rising Sun is a 7 course meal and Blood Rage is desert. 😋 Both are very satisfying!

[VyralOfficial]

I have been searching for 'Rising Sun vs Blood Rage' on YouTube and Google for a few days and was sad that you didn't make a comparison. And there it is! ha! I am a happy human!

[justmike]

So agreed, I prefer Blood Rage... BUT why I keep Rising Sun, why I love it, and why its different from Blood Rage for me comes down to feel (in that how the mechanics combine with the theme). BR gives me the quintessential Viking 'feel' that I'm looking for. Its outright aggressive, barbaric, and straight forward- HUZZAH! RS, however, is much more elegant, political, deception driven. It gives me the 'feel' of a calculated warlord who is looking to rule but knows that just fighting won't cut it. Scoring is structured so that strength and aggression aren't favoured more than timing, deception and wisdom is. i.e. You can't turtle your strength in one place and hope to win, but you have to strategically move your troops into different lands and time when you are going to vie for control there. You have to make/break strategic alliances and never fully reveal your goals to them if you hope to gain advantage. And combat is 'won' by the wise who know how to get something out of nothing and know how to bluff your adversaries and allies. So, while BR and RS share similarities, for me, they are so different and offer such a different game experience that both MUST remain in my collection. I hope Ankh is as different too. Oh and I disagree, (stylistic impression aside)RS's art style and minis are WAY better- more detailed and evocative.

[buddywahlquist]

What are those grey blobs on your boards?

[memitim]

I have not played Blood Rage (and perhaps I have to now...) but Rising Sun is pure, unfettered and distilled genius in a box. It is so well thought out and the tension is unreal. For me, this game raised the standard of what I thought was possible with a board game and showed a lot of other games up for the unbalanced trash they are, I urge you not to miss out on this one, especially if you are not a fan of the randomness present in so many games.

[lotusmoon]

Great video comparing 2 great games! Just by the BBG rating, it's not surprising that more people prefers Blood rage to Rising Sun. The biggest turn off of RS initially was like you mentioned, having my big awesome monsters stolen by take hostage before I got to "use it" to stomp face. Then I realize I'll have to change my thinking in how I viewed them. Using monsters as leveraging pieces to manipulate and extract coins from my opponents, making them *think* I am trying to win the battle. Then it becomes a much better feeling losing a battle you were planning to lose in the first place, robbing your opponents and crippling them in the battles you actually wanted to win. The mind games in RS are amazing. If all you are looking for is a more one dimensional use of your big beasts, then yes I totally get why BR would be something you would enjoy more. But in RS, sometimes your big monsters does go stomp and crush your opponent, but more importantly to me is getting much more value from my monsters by crippling my opponents ability to win in other battles. It's a different style of battle for sure, and it doesn't even really feel like "battle" sometimes which is the beauty of RS. As a board game collector as well, I want to keep the whole trilogy of Eric Langs games in my collection.

[laurentj]

So as a resume, you prefer BR because of viking theme and drafting mecanism over RS japan theme and bet / négociation mecanism.
Other things are common, so it s just a personnal preference. Am I wrong?

[DarkThomy]

One big aspect in RS imo is the amount of planning you can (and have to) get during the game.
The fact battles ONLY happen in some regions, in a precise order, makes it very interesting.
And thus the losing a battle compensation, the alliance system, the monsters' abilities (half of the time not directly related to combat) are perfect for it.

[eriklindqvist]

Haven't watched yet, but the outcome is pretty obvious for those that has watched content on this channel for a while. 😅

[chrisw]

Excellent video! I've been wanting to buy Blood Rage ever since viewing your review--Vikings, Pirates, and Zombies will always garner my interest!

[kombainasable]

I really like this style of video and glad these are back. I like these games analysis, but despite loving are control, I doubt I'd ever get any of these (or ankh), but would gladly play. if I had to choose which one to table, I'd pick Rising Sun, because it has a bit more unique mechanics in broader gaming space in my mind.

[namelessfire]

The only tricky thing to teach in Rising Sun is the combat system. While I like Rising Sun's combat more than Blood Rage, it can be hard for new players to wrap their mind around the system.

I have both and I am definitely keeping both. Blood Rage is my number 3, Rising Sun is my number 13. That's not necessarily because Blood Rage is a better game. It is however, a simpler game than Rising Sun. Simpler games get more plays and games that get more plays climb higher my rankings.

This or that, to me, really comes down to this: if you want a quicker, more kinetic area control game, get Blood Rage; if you want a longer, more thoughtful area control game, get Rising Sun. I have use for both of these niches so both are staying for a long long time.

[CocoDrawsGames]

Great video. Rising Sun has my favorite combat system of any game I have played and for that reason I prefer it to Blood Rage, but I really love both of them so I can't blame anyone for liking one over the other.

[willyum]

The mandate tiles are one of my favorite game components amongst all my games