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Game Info
Year
2020
Collection
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Description
Set in the world of Catacombs, in Catacombs Cubes players draft various "Tetris-like" wooden shapes from the quarry to race to build structures from blueprints. These completed buildings are added to the growing town of Stormtryne. The player who successfully builds the most structures wins. The game features a novel "cube-building mechanism".
The game features:
Solo Mode included
Enough components to support four players with the base game
Features characters and places from the world of Catacombs
Plenty of theme (not an abstract title)
Different game modes (competitive vs passive)
Two resources drafting mechanics included in the box (dice vs tiles)
—description from the designer
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video 0IHc4cYeenA
3 Minute Board Games Review at 0:08 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90763 · mention_pk 288734
Click to watch at 0:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fun city building game with simple rules
- Tactile gameplay
- Pleasant to look at with a wholesome presentation style and artwork that makes it welcoming to all ages
- Core decision points are straightforward (draft or build)
- Unused resources are removed when you build something, requiring planning
- Rewards people who enjoy visualizing a puzzle and then building it
- Mini games within are interesting (building placement, palace construction)
- The process of making the buildings is the best thing; playing with blocks is fun
Cons
- Ships with two ways of selecting resources, unclear why both are needed
- The dual resource selection system adds confusion to learning the rules
- Building tiles don't look like they form a city, just sit in open fields, a missed opportunity
Thematic elements
- building the most prestigious and outlandish buildings in the growing township
- the town of stormtryn
Comparison games
- Tiny Towns
- Junk Art
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Drafting — Each turn one player is the master builder and rolls the resource dice. They can then swap one pair of dice in the resource tray. Players then take a pair of resource dice and find the matching resources to place on their character board.
- Personal Building — Each player also has a personal residence which is a unique building only they may construct.
- Resource Management — When you build a building all resources in your construction yard except for the small black obsidian cubes are discarded. You keep resources in your warehouse.
- Set Collection — The building cards require you to build it out of blocks. Players select buildings and score points shown on the tile.
- Tile Placement — Players place buildings (tiles) in the village. At each tile corner there is a coloured arrow which grants a different bonus.
- Track Advancement — You can also build the palace using either the red side of the die or a red token. Gain points on the palace track based on the size of the resource you added.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- kia ora koutou and welcome to catacombs cubes in about three minutes review copy used
- catacombs cubes no catacombs to be seen plenty of cubes though
- if you enjoyed this video hit the notification button subscribe to the channel and come support us on patreon
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video EKT6Zkdpvp8
3 Minute Board Games Other at 17:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90494 · mention_pk 287948
Click to watch at 17:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fun city building
- Simple rules
- Tactile gameplay
- Wholesome presentation and artwork
- Rewards planning
- Interesting mini games
- Making buildings is fun
Cons
- Confusing resource selection methods
- Missed opportunity in tile placement aesthetics
Thematic elements
- Building the most prestigious and outlandish buildings
- Town of Stormtrine
Comparison games
- Tiny Towns
- Junk Art
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cube placement — 'Each building card requires you to build it out of blocks'.
- Dice resources — 'Resources each turn are determined by dice rolls'.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GcDd1Q7vi0Q
The Cardboard Herald Review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10728 · mention_pk 31671
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging physicality and tactile feedback
- Tightly integrated systems that connect currency, placement, and scoring
- Accessible entry with meaningful strategic depth
- Multiple viable strategic paths (dice-driven vs tile-building)
- Distinct 3D aspect that differentiates Catacombs Cubes
- Solid solo mode and alternative variants
Cons
- Not a heavy conflict game; some players may want more interaction
- Requires spatial reasoning that may challenge some players
- Rule complexity around warehouse storage and blueprint fulfillment
Thematic elements
- Physicality and architecture where currency takes tangible form
- Underground city-building in a catacombs setting
- Abstract, tactile, spatial puzzle with dice-driven actions
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- 3D spatial reasoning — Players must visualize stacking and height to satisfy blueprints and create freestanding structures.
- Coin economy and bonus actions — Coins spent on bonus actions and components; some coins are facedown for budgeting.
- Connector rewards — Tile connectors grant color-matched bonuses when forming connections.
- Dice Drafting — Quarry foreman rolls dice; players pair colors to claim dice and activate effects.
- End-game scoring and city grid expansion — The city grid grows; the game ends when max size is reached and points are tallied.
- Layer Building — Players must visualize stacking and height to satisfy blueprints and create freestanding structures.
- Palace track scoring — Advancing on the palace track yields rewards and increases scoring opportunities.
- Resource conversion and cube management — Dice provide cubes; you can break cubes into smaller parts or contribute to the palace.
- Tile Placement — Build either personal residence tiles or face-up board tiles by matching exact blueprints.
- Tile placement and blueprint matching — Build either personal residence tiles or face-up board tiles by matching exact blueprints.
- Track Advancement — Advancing on the palace track yields rewards and increases scoring opportunities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's charming and strategic it's fun
- the charm of building up these little abstracted structures is undeniable
- the dice are way cleaner faster and fit the tone of the game more
- this game requires you to conceptualize three-dimensional space
- the inherent physicality in a dexterity dungeon crawler makes it deserving of the catacombs line
- alternating who's the quarry captain or whatever the title is until the city grid reaches a maximum size based off of the number of players in which case the round finishes out you count up points and you guessed it the player with the most points wins there is a bit more to it than that
- this added dimension like the inherent physicality in a dexterity dungeon crawler makes it deserving of the catacombs line
- like catacombs itself of blending real-world physics with traditional strategy game concepts as super intriguing and in doing so it sets itself apart
- there's a pretty decent solo mode and a more strategic variant where the quarry boss pulls chips from the bag and arranges them what to revealed and one facedown I think the dice are way cleaner faster and fit the tone of the game more but it's there and finally there is this luxurious board encompassing play mat that elzar sent me that's available as a Kickstarter add-on it's a nice cohesive way to keep track of village boundaries and other elements but it's totally optional
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cFI0gaAs_EQ
The Cardboard Herald Discussion at 15:51 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7260 · mention_pk 21478
Click to watch at 15:51 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Compelling solo experience despite gatekeeping of content
- Interesting balance of automation and player decisions
- Strong feel of building and managing a small kingdom/dungeon
Cons
- Setup and solo configuration can be heavier; content gated behind multiplayer
- Not as accessible as lighter solo titles
Thematic elements
- logistics and resource management with spatial patterns
- dice-block driven dungeon economy
- economic euro flavor within a dungeon-context
Comparison games
- Caverna
- Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- automated opponent track — Opponent progress tracks on a point track, threatening to snatch opportunities away.
- block-based resource management — Use building blocks as resources to construct and optimize a kingdom/dungeon.
- Compound Scoring — Final score is your kingdom's total points minus the automated opponent's score.
- Resource Management — Use building blocks as resources to construct and optimize a kingdom/dungeon.
- scoring from kingdom vs. automaton — Final score is your kingdom's total points minus the automated opponent's score.
- three-chit draw/selection — Draw three chits, reveal two, decide to keep and possibly flip the third for future choice.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- interpretive solo games ... simulate the experience of playing the multiplayer version without having to fully go through the painstaking conduct of an automated opponent
- scythe and root are great examples of games that have good solo modes at this point with a better bot project
- i want to see more of those types of games
- i want to see more solo games for kids
- points don't matter
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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Showing 1–4 of 4