Pendulum

It can’t suck any worse than TAPESTRY or SCYTHE.

Yes, I get how popular this studio is but it has been real duds for me. Wingspan and Scythe eh.

I think you all need to be a little more respectful of the world's most important board game publisher.

Hail to the king

I went to BGG to see what kind of froth the lemmings were working themselves into . Turns out the game has a review embargo. WTF? Never heard of that in a boardgame before.

Sagrilarus wrote: I think you all need to be a little more respectful of the world's most important board game publisher.

The one that insists an accounting error is responsible for not being able to supply WINGSPAN to most distributors since last fall?

Reviews aren't necessary for the highest-rated protoype in the history of the Stonemaier Games Design Day. You all need to relax and soak up the worker-placement goodness that this game promises. We'll all be impressed soon enough!

The real question is how to pay in advance for this.

For real this time -- it's worker placement so I'm probably not going to be interested in this one. It certainly looks unique.

Not buying new games means that a review embargo has no effect on me. Given that I can't meet with my game group, likely for months, this one is far off in my future if at all. Always nice to see something different though.

After falling for the gigantic disappointment that was Tapestry I will never pre-order another Stonemaier game again.

Msample wrote: I went to BGG to see what kind of froth the lemmings were working themselves into . Turns out the game has a review embargo. WTF? Never heard of that in a boardgame before.

Review embargos for board games are a thing. We deal with them occasionally.

I am genuinely trying to ask this as neutrally as possible but can't work out how to do it so I will just ask:

Does the embargo last until they have enough backers, or what?

I'm also keen on understanding if a review embargo on a boardgame means the same thing that it does on a movie, i.e. it's a stamp of quality that shouts out "this is going to suck and we want the hype more than we want the publicity".

I don't want to pile on Stonemaier, but I've yet to enjoy any of their games.

Tapestry is a polished turd. It's the most polished piece of crap I've ever seen in gaming. It's baffling because so much work and talent has been put into it that I can't imagine why nobody said "wow, this game doesn't work, let's work on a better idea instead".

Wingspan is just dull. I spent 1300 words reviewing it and I feel it was a complete waste. There's simply very little of interest in the game. I don't even hate it. For me the most telling thing about it is that I tried to find people to play it again so I could review it and nobody wanted to. I had to go and play it on my own and with my girlfriend.

Scythe is game faking better, more fun games. I did not have a bad time on my only play, but the game is full of "waist-high walls" that prevent you from doing something fun. A friend loves this game so I'm willing to give it a couple chances. Or maybe not, he also likes Roll Player.

Viticulture is just a typical efficiency game.

mezike wrote: I'm also keen on understanding if a review embargo on a boardgame means the same thing that it does on a movie, i.e. it's a stamp of quality that shouts out "this is going to suck and we want the hype more than we want the publicity".

What you are thinking of is "not screened for critics". A review embargo just means you are sent a copy for review but you are not able to publish it before a certain date or event.

Between Two Cities is their best game.

mc wrote: I am genuinely trying to ask this as neutrally as possible but can't work out how to do it so I will just ask:

Does the embargo last until they have enough backers, or what?

With all the embargos we have had, the date was the retail release date (aka street date) of the game. It makes sense, because people have short memories. If they read a review and decide they want to buy the game but can't, the impulse to buy will be gone by the time the game is in the stores, or they will simply forget about it. Even for games that can be pre-ordered, the review embargo date is often the street date, not the opening of pre-orders.

The second benefit of this is that the game will get a flurry of reviews out all at once, which increases its visibility. The game will be in front of people's eyes from multiple sources on social media, as well as multiple entries on the front page of BGG, and the game typically will rise to the top of BGG's hot list.

The reasons publishers argue for embargo is that they want reviewers to take time with the game in order to form a strong and informed opinion. Without the embargo, they argue that it will be a race to see who can post the reviews first in order to get clicks and therefore the reviews won't be as valid.

budsticky wrote: The reasons publishers argue for embargo is that they want reviewers to take time with the game in order to form a strong and informed opinion. Without the embargo, they argue that it will be a race to see who can post the reviews first in order to get clicks and therefore the reviews won't be as valid.

It's also great for our reviewers when the review copies get shipped out well in advance of the embargo date for exactly that reason. However, we have a couple of publishers that typically don't ship out their review copies early, and they arrive maybe a week, if your lucky 2 weeks, before the embargo date. That's always a nightmare for us.

ETA: And it is always still a race to get the review published and google indexed first. I've sat watching the clock waiting to hit the button at exactly one second past midnight (or whatever time they give us). Or worse, when we are on a tight timeline, watching my phone for a text that the review has been submitted.

Unless a game is playable online, or solitaire or maybe two-player, getting in enough plays for a proper review seems unlikely during a pandemic. Maybe it's different in other places, but my local friends would rather not meet up to play board games until after the pandemic is over.

Erik Twice wrote: I don't want to pile on Stonemaier, but I've yet to enjoy any of their games.

Tapestry is a polished turd. It's the most polished piece of crap I've ever seen in gaming. It's baffling because so much work and talent has been put into it that I can't imagine why nobody said "wow, this game doesn't work, let's work on a better idea instead".

The thing that really got me about Tapestry was the fact that they basically got a whole bunch of people, including me unfortunately, to pay them in order to play test his game.

I'm not trying to be a hater but I'm very skeptical about Stonemaier now. I haven't really liked any of his designs. Viticulture was tolerable for me, but only when you got the essential edition and the essential edition of the expansion.

I do enjoy Wingspan, but that wasn't his design. So who knows. Pendulum isn't his design either. Maybe I'll like it, but I certainly won't be pre-ordering.

I don't see why an embargo matters much either way. When you have enough information to make a purchase decision you purchase. If it's three weeks later than you originally intended it's not going to have much of an impact on your life.

Given my life's current pace and inability to sit down with friends it's really an academic point. Stonemaier is doing us a favor.

Shellhead wrote: Unless a game is playable online, or solitaire or maybe two-player, getting in enough plays for a proper review seems unlikely during a pandemic. Maybe it's different in other places, but my local friends would rather not meet up to play board games until after the pandemic is over.

For me I'd say that depends on your state/region's current covid status and also your comfort and trust with the other people. If it's just a game group, I wouldn't do it in a million years. If they're close friends and covid is somewhat under control in your region, it's not the most dangerous thing in the world to expand your bubble to a couple other people/families you trust.