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Game Info
Year
2016
Players
1-2
Age
10+
Playtime
30 min
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
Description from the designer:
Nautilion is a dice game in the Oniverse series!
Take the helm of a Nautilion submarine and recruit a heroic crew to vanquish the treacherous Darkhouse that lurks in the oceanic depths. You must get to the Abyss, lair of the Darkhouse, before the Phantom Submarine (his henchman) reaches your homeland, the Happy Isles — but to defeat the Darkhouse, not only must you be faster than the Phantom Submarine, you must also assemble the submarine's crew along the way.
Each turn, you roll three dice and give one to each of these figures: the Nautilion, the Phantom Submarine, and the Darkhouse. The dice of the Nautilion and the Phantom Submarine move those figures along a path formed by Crew tokens: the Nautilion from the Happy Isles towards the Abyss; the Phantom Submarine in the opposite direction. The crew token on which your Nautilion ends its move joins your submarine, the one the Phantom Submarine reaches is lost!
Only four copies exist of each of the nine different tokens, so you have to decide carefully which die you need and which you can leave to your enemies. (The Darkhouse doesn't move, but inflicts damage to you each time he gets a die with a high value.) To win, you need to reach the Abyss with a full crew of nine different tokens.
Five expansions are included with the game, adding new crew members, powers, treacheries and challenges.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–6 of 6
Video hXQZ3FIxN-o
Sir Thecos Other at 28:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84102 · mention_pk 213177
Click to watch at 28:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- signed by either Elise the illustrator or by Shady the designer.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It looks really nice, really adorable.
- This is like a trick taking game with like a little bit of prediction and like psychological stuff which is pretty cool.
- This year's spiel was, as always, an amazing experience.
- It's incredible how this fair brings people together, just like board gaming itself does.
- I'm infinitely grateful for all of you.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 6rCuDZD4Tys
Totally Tabled Top 10 List at 0:52 sentiment: positive
video_pk 32181 · mention_pk 95014
Click to watch at 0:52 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Turns a classic roll-and-move into an engaging puzzle with three dice.
- Dice allocation across multiple roles creates meaningful decisions.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Event cards and token collection — Event cards trigger effects, and players collect tokens along the route to complete their ship.
- roll-and-move — Three dice are rolled and assigned to the player, the Phantom Menace, and the event/card system to determine movement.
- Roll/Spin to Move — Three dice are rolled and assigned to the player, the Phantom Menace, and the event/card system to determine movement.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I love that this game manages to take one of the worst board gaming mechanisms of all time roll and move and actually turn into something fun by adding three dice
- it's a very clever puzzle and can be quite demanding when you again start adding those modules
- Stone Age actually leverages that dice rolling in some of the best ways possible it's exciting it adds a sense of pressier luck and ultimately it feels like you know all that evens out in the wash
- The production is out of this world I mean all the art is amazing the boards everything is like packaged up into these little um plastic containers it's it's it's a wonderful production and the game is just so much fun
- each player is playing with their own special ability these crazy powerful special abilities that are very asymmetrical in fact one of the characters lets you just place the dice to whatever value you want you don't even have to roll them feels crazily overpowered
- the dice here represent different types of energy so like the red dice are are fire and the blue dice or like steam or something
- these cards that you're unlocking are giving you special abilities it's such a great system and that's really the heart of the game
- it's just so satisfying trying to fill up your board and to puzzle out how to best use the dice that you rolled
- there's not enough games that use this wonderful mechanism Grand Austria hotel is one of the best here at the beginning of the round you're just gonna roll a huge handful of dice
- my number one dice game is TWA is just this amazing quirky little game that just keeps growing on me
- it's hard to describe here in just a couple of minutes
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video kjoDUlCvo6c
Totally Tabled Top List at 10:11 sentiment: positive
video_pk 30487 · mention_pk 89725
Click to watch at 10:11 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- makes roll and move feel more strategic and less random
- offers more meaningful decisions than classic dice-rolling approaches
Cons
- obscure/obscurely known title with limited broad recognition
Thematic elements
- roll and move with enhanced decision points
- nautical/undersea exploration theme
- adventure-like with strategic depth
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- roll and move — use multiple dice and allocate results to actions, increasing decisions while preserving roll-and-move feel
- Roll/Spin to Move — use multiple dice and allocate results to actions, increasing decisions while preserving roll-and-move feel
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Terrible mechanism interrupts.
- I despise memory in board games.
- The absolute worst board game mechanism is in the game Hit Zero.
- I love that these are like jobs and missions where, you know, you're maybe escorting somebody to a different planet or you're carrying contraband.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Fflv2nCikrs
Adam in Wales - Board Game Design Analysis at 6:09 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4852 · mention_pk 94041
Click to watch at 6:09 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Solo or two-player challenge
- Complex token economy layered on dice mechanic
- Multiple moving parts create engaging puzzle
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Submarine warfare
- Underwater ocean depths
- tense tactical
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Assignment — One die for own submarine movement, one for enemy sub, one for dark house
- Resource Management — Tokens collected and placed on nautilium board or stored for special actions
- roll and move — Three dice rolled to form pool, assigned to different game elements
- Token economy — Spent tokens to re-roll, rotate dice, or manipulate track
- Win Condition Complexity — Must reach end before enemy AND have correct tokens on nautilium board
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Where once randomness ruled modern games prioritized player agency designers strived to incorporate meaningful decisions into their games and role and move became a dirty word among the modern tabletop community
- I myself put out a video called dicer not the answer back in 2017 one of my most watched lamenting role and move
- In 2022 i feel like maybe just maybe we've tipped too far in the other direction thrown the baby out with the bath water
- This video is a quest for redemption
- When done well roller move is one of the most intuitive exciting mechanisms out there
- In a pure roll and move game the player rolls a die or spins a spinner and moves their playing piece according to the result
- In talisman you roll the die and then you choose to move clockwise or anticlockwise around the board that one deviation from the purest role of move games the decision to go left or right immediately put talisman head and shoulders above most board games on the market at the time
- Hero quest showcases the strength of the roller move mechanism its elegant simplicity and the excitement of a successful role outrunning an ogre
- It can be really frustrating to lose a long game which you were totally invested in purely because you rolled badly
- Spooky stairs is a great example of a game where the roll and move mechanism itself isn't tampered with but the basic race mechanism is turned on its head by incorporating a chaotic memory mechanism
- This game beautifully highlights the intuitive nature of roll and move as a mechanism
- More than any other on this list this game demonstrates how such a simple mechanism can create agonizing decisions and a hugely interactive variable board game experience I can't recommend this one enough
- Roll and move games don't have to be devoid of meaningful choices
- Formula d has a great roll and move mechanism which i haven't seen replicated in any other game
- Push your luck and roll and move complement each other nicely
- Among hobby gamers roll a move is widely considered something of an untouchable mechanism in 2022 and that's a shame
- Roll and move isn't a cursed mechanism
- Like every mechanism roller move has strengths and weaknesses
- It can be used effectively to create an exciting intuitive system or it can be used ineffectively to create a wildly random experience which feels primitive and unfair
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video wU6T4dRDsuw
The Broken Meeple Discussion at 26:43 sentiment: negative
video_pk 4295 · mention_pk 98011
Click to watch at 26:43 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Theme is appealing
Cons
- Roll-and-move can feel punishing
- Too random for some tastes
Thematic elements
- Pirate/adventure
- Exploration and crew management
- Light
Comparison games
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- roll-and-move — Dice-driven movement with crew collection mechanics.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's important to think about my health as well
- i need to take a break
- it's only a game
- think of your health particularly in this day and age
- take care and remember it's only a game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video TVxbYdEjqG0
Foster the Meeple Discussion at 10:57 sentiment: positive
video_pk 660 · mention_pk 99149
Click to watch at 10:57 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
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 freaking love it
- we are not gonna spend time explaining all of the games
- this is also includes games from before Gen Con and we cannot be held accountable for our actions
- we will let you know if we forget to say it will be on the screen every time
- it's for one or two players I kinda want to bring this to Disney
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–6 of 6