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Game Info
Year
2024
Collection
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Description
I, Napoleon is a solitaire historical role-playing card game in which you step into the boots of Captain Buonaparte (as he still was) in the year 1793. Louis XVI has just gone to the guillotine, the brothers Robespierre control the destiny of France, and all Europe has joined French Royalists to take down France, end the Revolution, and restore peace and safety for the hereditary principles that have underlain society for 1000 years.
As an ambitious but unknown young artillery officer, who speaks French with a Corsican accent, you would seem to be an unlikely agent of destiny. Can you harness a brilliant mind, titanic energies, and a sometimes terrifying charisma to leave your mark on history? Or will you die a minor footnote in the story of France?
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Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video NIzpfwVk89U
Shelfside Interview at 1:54 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 91128 · mention_pk 244279
Click to watch at 1:54 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Array
- Historical-themed card game
- anecdotal
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I started with the game of life
- we played Stratego with a family friend
- I started playing a lot of Dominion
- we branched into very very a very different game Eclipse
- over a hundred games of our good old faithful resistance
- Battlestar Galactica in Eclipse
- Catan is an eclipse not for me
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ecpUwJ8Btlc
The Cardboard Herald Top List at 19:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 86525 · mention_pk 224089
Click to watch at 19:39 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Highly Positive
Pros
- Strong historical accuracy.
- Follows Napoleon's entire career.
- Multiple paths to victory or loss.
- Fantastic solo experience.
Cons
- Many ways to lose.
Thematic elements
- Follows the life of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Napoleonic Era
- Starts as a commander, moves to First Consul, and potentially Emperor, with many ways to lose.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Driven — It's another card-driven game.
- Life simulation — Tracks Napoleon's career progression and potential downfall.
- Solo Play — Fantastic solo experience.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- you know that this is directly inspired by Shadow of the Colossus
- apart from the verticality it's just such a smart creative cool package where each hero is a combination of a character class and a couple hero cards shuffled together and kind of played as if it were a deck building game that you're not doing any addition to throughout the game itself
- it has such an amazing intuitive simple system for telegraphing what the oppositional behavior of this Leviathan that you're climbing is going to be and giving you time most of the time to react to it
- Ironwood is an asymmetrical hard driven tactical game with multi-use cards Ironclad and wood walkers have different decks different Victory conditions move around the board differently fantastic components and artwork
- Pagan fate of Rowan Oak which is an expandable asymmetrical deduction card game where one player plays as a witch the other player is playing as the Witch Hunter and the witch is playing cards to try to perform this Grand ritual whereas the Witch Hunter is trying to figure out who the witch is and then bring them to justice
- React the Arts of War this one was super under my radar until packs unplugged but this is a onev one grid-based card dueling game with these highly asymmetrical artist characters that are very unique in their play style very thematic you are moving your artists around the board trying to damage the other artists you're competing against so thematic and extremely
- River of gold if you had told me 5 years ago that they were going to be making a Euro set in rokuan the setting of my personal Obsession as a teenager and young adult I would have well I would have believed you but I would have flipped my lid and even still now I'm kind of in shock at how good of a game it pulled off in being especially under a younger Studio like office dog
- River of gold is an exceptional worker placement with a linear aspect as you navigate these boats down the river and progressively more and more buildings are constructed along the ways
- it has just the right blending of approachable economics and astounding capabilities that you can roll into and is magnificently produced with these beautiful gold reflective elements throughout the otherwise kind of watercolor esque board
- first up we have SEI I know this is on a lot of other people's lists but it has a fantastic solo mode it uses an automa where the automa uh will do somewhat of a random action but the actions will be more powerful than anything that you can do on your turn so it ends up being very competitive you can see here I just finished a solo game and the scores were pretty close actually within 10 points
- arcs it is difficult to talk about this game without getting into the Weeds about how beautifully the mechanics interact with each other in this game to create an epic space conflict but at the same time a game about making do with what few actions you have
- it's hard to imagine arcs not being in the top three of this list in what we have talked about as an absolute Bonkers of a year it's cunning inventive and original while still being all that much more approachable than many of Leader's prior works
- the depths to which you can explore the systems involved is really something
- the last recommendation on my list is I Napoleon designed by Ted racer uh and GMT games it's another card driven game what I like about this one is the historical aspect of it and how true to the life of Napoleon it is uh first you start by playing as uh Napoleon when he was a commander you move up to uh first console and then ultimately Emperor if you make that far and there's a ton of ways to lose um but you can go through his entire life it's a fantastic solo experience highly recommend it
- Harvest the number one game of 2024 the Box really does say it best a fantastically fun fur filled farming Affair that is tricky to say but the game is just that much fun too
- Harvest is an amazing game it is a knife fight in a hay bale your turns are so few that you cannot Dilly nor dally but the adorable theme makes something that should be an inherently stressful game into a cute little farming experience
- it has the deep deep complexity of trying to maximize your turns to give it legs to even the most astute of board gamers was some serious debate Among Us contributors on the channel as to whether Harvest should take the number one slot
- taking the raw elements that TMG had rightly gone with but bringing it to a more Modern Standard giving it both a visual overhaul but also giving at a tight mechanical system that is shockingly deep for how mechanically narrow it may seem at first to have this level of function in a farming game that is played in a mere four rounds only 12 placements for the entire game is the Pinnacle of refined game design
- making Harvest our 2024 game of the year
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video smHEdJLLCZY
The Discriminating Gamer Top List at 5:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 83805 · mention_pk 212045
Click to watch at 5:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- A lot of fun
- Unique
- Intense battles
Cons
- Pretty big game
Thematic elements
- Living through the career of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Playing through cards, making choices about marriage, diplomacy, and fighting battles.
Comparison games
- Mr. President
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Driven — You are playing cards. There's different cards decks. You are kind of playing through the cards, seeing where it takes you.
- Career simulation — You are pretty much living through the career of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- event cards — You've got some fun intense battle going on here with these cards.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Manila: The Savage Streets 1945. This is kind of a sister game to Stalingrad.
- I thought the Manila game was just a little smoother, a little sweeter. Um and it just worked a lot better.
- Pavlov's House is such a great solitaire war game.
- It was part of a well orchestrated plan to keep them there. And they were well supported by AA guns and communications and supplies.
- Castle Itter is kind of one of the weirdest battles of the war.
- And the game is super intense.
- When I think of a good solitaire war game that I could just pick up and and play with with with minimal difficulty and really invest in it, this is it.
- Vae Victis Emperor by Blue Panther. This is, of course, the Battle of Waterloo.
- he just did such a great great job of abstracting the the basics of the battle, but making them come alive in such a fun way.
- This one is so much fun. It is a great great solitaire war game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video gfJWFMWx7DU
The Discriminating Gamer Top List at 7:19 sentiment: positive
video_pk 83591 · mention_pk 210884
Click to watch at 7:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Great game
- Fun and interesting game
- Really liked this system
- Super excited to see where they take it
Cons
- Played it only twice
- Has an expansion that hasn't been played
Thematic elements
- Career of Napoleon Bonaparte
- Napoleonic Era
Comparison games
- Augustus
- Julius Caesar
- Charlemagne
- Alexander the Great
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card-driven events — you've got cards that are coming out for the different years, the different times of his life that come out and they need to be resolved.
- Dice combat — And then you have battles that come up and you you that have die rolls and ways you can mitigate them.
- diplomacy — Some of them are foreign policy cards. Some of them, you know, England is doing something or Russia or Austria.
- legacy elements — You've got your brothers that you've got to kind of decide where you're going to put your brothers in certain areas.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- My number 20, Apocalypse Road.
- My number 19, Plains Indian Wars.
- My number 18 is Commands and Colors Ancients. My number 17 is Commands and Colors Medieval.
- So, this is Combat Commander Europe, and that is my number 16.
- So, I'm actually hopefully they they can do this with with other people as well. I find other historical figures to place with like Augustus or Julius Caesar or uh Charlemagne or you know what have you, Alexander the Great. I think there's a lot of stuff you could do with this kind of a system. Uh but that is my number 15. I Napoleon.
- Still, I loved it. That is my number 14, Mr. President.
- So, that is uh my number 13, Commands and Colors, Samurai Battles.
- And that is why it is my number 12.
- So this is 1989 Dawn of Freedom. That is my number 11.
- Again, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING and I don't know where I've been. IT'S A LONG TIME AND I'LL BE DYING.
- That sounds suspiciously like something a bear would write.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 0g7QLMMCyjY
The Discriminating Gamer Top List at 9:49 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80638 · mention_pk 196885
Click to watch at 9:49 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- It is a lot of fun
- Great implementation of the history
- Just not quite like anything that I own
- Really like having this one in my collection
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Career of Napoleon Bonaparte
- Napoleonic Era
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Driven — The game is driven entirely by playing cards on the board.
- Event system — Players deal with various events that happen throughout Napoleon's life.
- grand strategy — Involves military career, government policy, and personal life decisions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- My number 10 from Renegade Game Studios is Unstoppable. This is a science fiction solitaire game.
- This is 20 Strong. 20 Strong is not just a simple game. It's a game system because essentially, you have different decks, and you the way these decks play are very, very different.
- Great artwork here. I love the artwork, but it's just a very tense game. I'll be honest, this is one I have never won.
- Final Girl is a great solitaire game based on kind of B movie horror films.
- Hoplomachus Victorum is huge. This is This is one of the bigger solitary games I played.
- Mr. President is probably the biggest solitary game I've ever played.
- This is The Pursuit of John Wilkes Booth.
- I, Napoleon is essentially a Napoleon Bonaparte simulator.
- And this is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. [...] it is freaking awesome.
- It's a horror game. It is chilling. And it is just so good.
- Plague of Dracula is a great game where you take on the roles of the characters from the book Dracula.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video rV8XoEpUh_Y
Review at 1:04 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 69559 · mention_pk 166084
Click to watch at 1:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Makes you feel like Napoleon Bonaparte
- Impressive historical detail and passion in design
- Combat system is great
- Rewarding to achieve difficult goals
- Simple rules on cards
- Cool concept of living through different timelines of Napoleon's life
- Potential for challenging optimization
Cons
- Lack of player agency due to card draws and obvious/forced choices
- Headache-inducing domestic and foreign policy phases
- Very long playtime
- Consequences for failure are astronomically high
- Modifiers always make sense to maximize, reducing strategic choice
Thematic elements
- Living through the turmoils and victories of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
- Europe and the Mediterranean during Napoleon Bonaparte's life
Comparison games
- Dune Imperium
- Imperium Legends
- Imperium Classics
- Imperium Horizons
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players have options of enacting cards now or later, or choosing which battles to take on in later ages.
- Campaign management — You'll turn your attention towards his military campaigns across Europe and the Mediterranean.
- Card drawing — Each round you'll draw between five to 12 cards with the variability based off of a die roll. Each card has instructions on what to do with it, some have mandatory must place or others give you an option.
- Dice Rolling — You take note of any campaign modifiers and add those to the dice roll modifier referred to as DRM in the game.
- Push Your Luck — The almost push your luck mechanic of only trying to spin what you have to works great.
- Set Collection — Goal is to gain as much Glory as possible and hopefully put an heir on the throne.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The goal of this game is to make you feel like Napoleon Bonapart and I think it mostly does that.
- I think the combat system is great and why I think it makes the game not for me.
- The player choices kind of make themselves.
- There has been so much work done in this game to make you feel like Napoleon Bonaparte.
- It is difficult to get some of those achievements just based on how the game naturally develops and I appreciate that there was something to reward me even when I felt like I didn't do that great of a job.
- For me though I'm probably just going to play a few rounds of Imperium Legends Classics or Horizons in the same amount of time it would take me to play a round of I Napoleon.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Mj1o611m1j8
Board Game Animal Review at 5:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 31186 · mention_pk 151412
Click to watch at 5:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- highly thematic and narrative-driven
- great mechanism to create unpredictability while steering a historical arc
- educational and historically rich; approachable for history buffs
- replayable and flexible in pacing for solo play
Cons
- narratively heavy; may be less accessible to casual or non-historiography players
Thematic elements
- narrative-driven life of Napoleon Bonaparte across his career
- Napoleonic era; historical campaigns
- historical, narrative-rich with player-driven storytelling
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card-driven mechanism — cards drive events and outcomes; progression feels like a narrative arc
- dice-based uncertainty — dice rolls can influence card resolution and outcomes, adding luck and tension
- Narrative Choice — players guide the historical timeline through decisions and card play
- narrative shaping — players guide the historical timeline through decisions and card play
- solo focus — designed as a solitary/solo experience with narrative progression
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Not only was it a smooth entry point into GMT for me but I'm sure it's going to end up being one of my favorite board games of 2024.
- The simple elegant yet massively impactful turn order system of initiative is a delightfully agonizing choice every turn.
- Napoleon is a strictly Solitaire thematic war game where you're playing through the life of Napoleon Bonaparte through different chapters of his intense career.
- The cards drive the game; you are still steering subtle decisions, will come your way.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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