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Game Info
Year
2018
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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Description
Orbis is a tactical game of world development and strategic resource management, in which players take on the roles of gods creating their best universes. Utilizing lands lost in the aether, players accumulate worshippers to spend on even more fruitful lands — some of which grant game-changing bonuses. The key to victory lies in having the most creation points (CPs) at the end of the game!
On your turn, you must take a tile from either the nine region tiles in the center of the table or the available God tiles. (A player may take only one God tile throughout the game.) Every time you take a region tile, worshippers of the same color as the tile taken are placed on adjacent tiles, making the tiles left behind more enticing for the next player. Restrictions apply to region tile placement, making each decision tougher than the last!
After fifteen rounds, the game ends when all players have created their universe, at which point CPs are calculated, bonus tiles awarded, and a winner is crowned. Beautifully simple yet rich in strategy, Orbis is a different game each and every time you play it.
Become the best god and craft your most prosperous universe!
Featured Videos
Rules Teach
Orbis - How To Play
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 10
This page: 10
Sentiment:
pos 8 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–10 of 10
Video vcFbeuTa17c
Unknown Channel Top 5 List at 8:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66278 · mention_pk 161177
Click to watch at 8:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Gorgeous art and components
- Engaging abstract puzzle that scales with player count
- Accessible yet deep
Cons
- Not as widely known; learning curve can be steep
Thematic elements
- Gods and planetary-like realms built through tiled tableau
- Mythological universe creation with god tiles
- Tableau-building with a color-adjacency constraint
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- color adjacency constraint — Placed tiles must touch similarly colored tiles; illegal placements flip to wasteland
- end game bonuses — Tiles have various win conditions and scoring rules
- end-game scoring by tile conditions — Tiles have various win conditions and scoring rules
- Resource management — Worshipers (resources) are used to buy more tiles for your universe
- tile drafting / placement — Draft god tiles and place them to build a connected tableau
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- five hidden gems inside my collection
- the art style is amazing the cute animals and creatures
- this is a dungeon crawling rolling right game
- that one extra roll I need to beat him and take his final Health down and defeat him
- it's a very interesting little game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video U5yp4ZRQSQA
Watch It Played Discussion at 0:44
video_pk 65442 · mention_pk 159111
Click to watch at 0:44 · YouTube ↗
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)
- this is a prototype for a Kickstarter game
- basically the reason why we don't do kickstarters as a general rule here on watch it played is because uh the games themselves may not fund
- that said uh that said I'm probably going to break all of these fine principles at least once or twice at some point
- on a personal level though I I have backed a few different Kickstarter games and lately I'm shying away from it a bit
- the other thing is the cost and not so much the cost of the games themselves I find most times they're pretty reasonably priced it's the shipping
- so that's giving me pause to to think about what games I jump in on
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video VhyX-vBhvng
Watch It Played Rules Teach at 0:25 sentiment: positive
video_pk 64979 · mention_pk 158581
Click to watch at 0:25 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Learning the rules doesn't have to be difficult.
- The game involves building a universe and gathering worshippers.
Cons
- Wilderness tiles are worth minus one point at the end of the game.
Thematic elements
- building a universe and gathering worshippers
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area majority — Points are awarded at the end of the game based on who has the most temple symbols, with tie-breakers involving specific tile colors and numbers.
- Resource management — Players manage worshipper cubes, spending them to claim tiles and discarding down to a hand limit. Cubes are also used for specific tile effects like volcanoes and villages.
- set collection — Players collect worshipper cubes of various colors, which are used as a cost to acquire tiles. There's also a limit on the number of cubes a player can hold.
- tile placement — Players place region tiles into a tableau with specific placement rules regarding connections, color matching, and adjacency to existing tiles. Wilderness tiles have special placement rules.
- Variable player powers — God tiles provide unique abilities or end-game scoring opportunities, and a player can only obtain one God tile per game.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- look no one said being a god would be easy but at least learning the rules doesn't have to be difficult
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video hkGq7m27a4c
Board Gaymes James Top List at 1:15 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 62160 · mention_pk 154687
Click to watch at 1:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- unknown — Not described in transcript.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a co-op game where you're going to be trying to ascend the mountain
- I like this small box it's nice and pretty
- there is a lot of math involved with this and a lot of thinking
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 6YhWWRYcERU
Let's Table It Review at 0:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61944 · mention_pk 154555
Click to watch at 0:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- quick, tense, backstab-heavy interaction
- high-quality components with foil-like art
- thematic flavor with the Queen's table
- varied strategies due to nobles, spies, and missions
- short playtime makes it good for quick sessions
Cons
- mat is optional and neoprene mat may be overkill or increase cost
- potential for back-and-forth politics to stall games
- some players may dislike hidden information and eliminations
- end-game scoring can be complex for newcomers
Thematic elements
- backstabbing, manipulation, status at the Queen's table
- The Queen's table during a banquet where players vie for esteem and influence
- commentary/guide-style explanation of rules and strategy
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character cards — Nobles, Spy, Assassin, Guard provide special effects and scoring modifiers.
- End of round/points — Deck depletion ends the game; count cards at Queen's table and mission points.
- hand management — Each turn you hold three cards and place one at the Queen's table; you aim to place value cards to affect scoring.
- Positive/negative scoring by color — Cards can score +1 or -1 depending on whether there are more cards above or below the matching color.
- Secret Missions — Each player gets two secret mission cards worth bonus points at end.
- tableau building — Cards are placed face up or face down in colored regions with above/below rules for scoring.
- Tableau on Queen's table — Cards are placed face up or face down in colored regions with above/below rules for scoring.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a great quick game for trying to manipulate the Queen's table
- it's a fun game of placing out cards in different locations to backstab or to press your preferred family status forward
- The game is produced very well and the cards look pretty amazing
- this is a fun game of placing out cards in different locations to backstab
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 2v8uicriQ_s
Jamie, Tabletoptiktok Review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61403 · mention_pk 154079
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Clever and unique mechanic in peck/steal system
- Bird theme with clever flavor and visuals
- Engaging player interaction through stealing and nest concealment
- Compact and accessible setup with visible quick-start cues
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Resource competition and stashing treasures among corvid birds; stealing mechanics via feathers
- Bird-themed treasure collection around a central nesting mat with exposed nests and hidden cards
- Light-weight, abstract thematic cueing with hidden roles and cheeky bird flavor
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- End-of-round scoring and set collection — Score based on sets of icons on collected cards and nest abilities.
- Feathers as currency — Feathers collected enable stealing and scoring combinations.
- Nesting concealment — Nests are face-down and only revealed later; protecting nest affects stealing opportunities.
- Peck (flip/reveal) — Flip and reveal cards from the central layout, take revealed cards and feathers as resources.
- Special abilities on species cards — Some bird types grant extra actions or points when conditions are met.
- Stealing — When you have feathers, you can steal cards from revealed or face-down nests.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I think it is a very clever game.
- three simple things. PE, flip it over, pick, take one card that's fully uncovered, and then resolve any actions and pass to the next player.
- It's two to four players.
- I like the peck action that you can like, woo, really mess things up and just kind of go all over the board.
- Corvids from DVC Games.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video xtBvBUaRJ1w
Allies or Enemies Top List at 9:53 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61070 · mention_pk 153501
Click to watch at 9:53 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Extremely teachable with high repeat playability
- Engaging social dynamics and easy-to-understand scoring
- Very quick to pick up for both casual and experienced players
Cons
- Requires a few plays to internalize subtle scoring blocks
Thematic elements
- Power plays within a medieval court
- Court intrigue with a social/positional dynamic
- lightly thematic, highly accessible
Comparison games
- Other quick-to-teach social deduction-like family games
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- above/below card placement — Families score based on their position relative to a court cloth
- hand management — Play one card in front of yourself, one in front of another, and one in the middle
- three-card hand management — Play one card in front of yourself, one in front of another, and one in the middle
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "it's about windmills"
- "the closest I've seen to Mario Kart as a board game"
- "it's a very tight worker placement game"
- "the biggest surprise of the year"
- "this is my favorite game of the year so far"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video B7JknDGQ9S4
The Dice Tower Top 10 List at 6:41 sentiment: positive
video_pk 35627 · mention_pk 161842
Click to watch at 6:41 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful bright color artwork
- Polished overall package
Cons
- May require multiple plays to master
Thematic elements
- space racing with moving planets
- Planetary race in orbit
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area/positioning interaction — If your ship is on a planet, you move it; opponents can be moved.
- Card-driven movement — Play a card to move your ship; planets rotate and influence movement.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The gimmick is you have a large plastic cube that has magnets on it, and you are rolling it around a board picking up tiles.
- Magnets are cool, folks.
- This one's simple with a fun, bright theme, and I found it easy to jump into and play.
- Ink is a game in which you are, well, basically getting rid of ink wells. That's it.
- it looks very abstract because the inks wells don't mean anything, but it's easy to play and fun for people to get into.
- Simple, fun, easy. That is pencil pirates.
- chunky components very much interactive where your tower might block the towers behind you and then they don't score any points
- Very interesting, silly artwork, but anybody can play it.
- If you like games like Rummy or games that we call card shedding where you're trying to get rid of all the cards from your hand, this is an amazing one.
- beautiful bright color artwork. The whole package comes together very nice.
- Magical Athlete is not a game to be taken seriously by any means, but it's just so entertaining and fun to play.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 6kJsoRtRyyQ
Board With Steve Top List at 4:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10455 · mention_pk 100372
Click to watch at 4:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- devious and puzzle-like
- easy to learn yet deeply strategic
- blends area-control with hidden information for tension
Cons
- can feel punishing if you misread others' intentions
- slightly heavier than other titles in this list
Thematic elements
- noble maneuvering, spies, assassins, secret missions
- royal banquet with political intrigue
- devious, puzzle-like, strategic
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — Three cards per turn placed in center court, own domain, and opponents' domain with positional effects.
- card drafting and placement — Three cards per turn placed in center court, own domain, and opponents' domain with positional effects.
- hidden information and assassinations — Spies remain hidden; assassins can remove cards from domains.
- hidden roles — Spies remain hidden; assassins can remove cards from domains.
- secret missions and set collection — Points come from collected cards and covert objectives.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Pitch Out is such an underrated game I rarely hear anybody talking about it
- Skull is a game that's all about bluffing
- it's a d little game but absolutely anyone can play it
- Scout is my favorite card game of all time
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video KwM02RDzHXI
Board Game Coffee Discussion at 6:31 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4624 · mention_pk 13549
Click to watch at 6:31 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Excellent artwork
- Purchased on sale
Cons
- Mark has no idea what the game is
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 got this for Christmas I have no idea how to play this
- I remember liking it I I I don't remember not liking it
- if you like dachshunds or if you like which is like the hot dog dogs
- I liked the first two times I played I was like oh that's fun and then the more you play just kind of grates on you
- Brittany said that if you ever play this with me again I will burn down this house
- I will never get over it it's done
- you could play it like one to 100 players
- my brain is exhausted I feel like this is one of those games gets you the gears going your head
- I have no idea what this game is but how cool is that art
- this is just chess but it's like shot glasses
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–10 of 10