Saltlands: Survival is Not Enough

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My thoughts:

www.miniaturemarket.com/reviewcorner/saltlands-review/

Thanks for the review!

I think us three are the only ones who have played it on FAT. I found it to be fine. There are interesting elements, but overall I thought it was a bit weaker than other similar games.

SuperflyTNT wrote: My thoughts:

www.miniaturemarket.com/reviewcorner/saltlands-review/

Your review does a better job than mine in analyzing what you did and did not like about the game. Good points about the setup and takedown being a hassle, though I found the tokens to be more work than the cards. I also agree the combat fell a little short, though what bothered me most was the attacking vehicle never takes any damage in a fight. You can partially injure raiders, if you do enough damage to wound a passenger, but not enough to take out the driver as well.

My initial reaction to the cardboard character standees was similar to yours, but I concluded that they were a necessary evil due to the potential to trade up on vehicles. And the standees are readily identifiable as specific characters, and stand out easily from the various raider vehicles, which is handy when resolving the raider AI for movement and attack.

So far, it seems like semi-cooperative mode might be the easiest way to win. With co-op mode, all the players are screwed if just one player lags too far behind to fight it with raiders. Or if that last vp card that you need is too far out of reach. In semi mode, you could just leave one or two people behind and still get a win of sorts. Or a noble player might sacrifice himself to lure the raiders away. With competitive mode, the addition of intelligent opponents on top of the big horde of raiders seem like one degree of difficulty too many.

charlest wrote: Thanks for the review!

I think us three are the only ones who have played it on FAT. I found it to be fine. There are interesting elements, but overall I thought it was a bit weaker than other similar games.

I am curious as to what titles you think are similar but better.

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote:

charlest wrote: Thanks for the review!

I think us three are the only ones who have played it on FAT. I found it to be fine. There are interesting elements, but overall I thought it was a bit weaker than other similar games.

I am curious as to what titles you think are similar but better.

My main complaint in my review was:

The problem with Saltlands is that it comes across as somewhat mundane. At its worst, it can feel as though it lacks drama and fails to offer surprise or tension. There’s no event card system or unexpected shakeups in the environment, so it’s mostly about efficiently managing your hand and action allotment. It can feel repetitive and the inclusion of additional scenarios beyond the standard setup would have helped alleviate this.

My favorite Post Apocalyptic game is Waste Knights. That's a bit longer and heavier than Saltlands though. If I'm looking for something lighter I'd much rather play Wasteland Express Delivery Service. It just moves much quicker and is more interesting, despite having many euro elements.

If we're just talking adventure games, this doesn't come close to being as good as Merchants and Marauders or Xia either.

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote:

charlest wrote: Thanks for the review!

I think us three are the only ones who have played it on FAT. I found it to be fine. There are interesting elements, but overall I thought it was a bit weaker than other similar games.

I am curious as to what titles you think are similar but better.

It's a race/survival game. Thus, Salvation Road and Hit Z Road are both better (Salvation has a similar theme). I don't think it qualifies as an adventure game really, but if a PA adventure is what you seek, Defenders of the Last Stand is the king of those with a PA setting.

All adventure games are race games. Whether it's to VP or collecting items.

I don't know that I agree with that. I've had games of Runebound last for a whole day!

SuperflyTNT wrote: I don't know that I agree with that. I've had games of Runebound last for a whole day!

Haha fine, but if you classify Saltlands as a race game as opposed to an adventure game, then you'd probably classify Merchants and Marauders and Xia as well. Wasteland Express is for sure a race game according to those standards.

Saltlands works like a race game (plus combat), but like an orienteering type of race where the course is discovered during the race.

charlest wrote:

SuperflyTNT wrote: I don't know that I agree with that. I've had games of Runebound last for a whole day!

Haha fine, but if you classify Saltlands as a race game as opposed to an adventure game, then you'd probably classify Merchants and Marauders and Xia as well. Wasteland Express is for sure a race game according to those standards.

Xia really does feel like a race but Merchants feels like an adventure. Same with Defenders. Saltlands really does feel like a race to get clues or something but really only superficially has an advenure feel to it.

Maybe I'm just stupid and don't know what I am talking about though. I get that a lot LOL

Off topic: they did a pretty great job with the Xia expansion(s). Pieces of it are supposedly modular but I just threw everything in without any problems. My only complaint with the game now is that I'd still like to see more tiles; we managed to explore all of them in a 10 point game.