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Game Info
Year
2016
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
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Description
Tides of Madness is a sequel to Tides of Time and features gameplay similar to that design. Tides of Time is a drafting game for two players. Each game consists of three rounds in which players draft cards from their hands to build their kingdom. Each card is one of five suits and also has a scoring objective.
After all cards have been drafted for the round, players total their points based on the suits of cards they collected and the scoring objectives on each card, then they record their score. Each round, the players each select one card to leave in their kingdom as a "relic of the past" to help them in later rounds. After three rounds, the player with the the most prosperous kingdom wins.
Tides of Madness adds a new twist to the above game: madness. Some cards, while powerful, harm your psyche, so you must keep an eye on your madness level or else risk losing the game early as your mind is lost to the power of the ancients. More specifically, eight of the eighteen cards in the game feature a madness icon, and while scoring, you receive a madness token for each such icon in your collection of cards. Whoever has the most madness in a round either scores 4 points or discards 1 madness token — and the latter option is valuable because if you ever have nine or more madness, you lose the game immediately.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 11
This page: 11
Sentiment:
pos 9 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–11 of 11
Video c0g8Qd5VPMM
Board Game Sanctuary Review at 1:25 sentiment: positive
video_pk 109960 · mention_pk 316375
Click to watch at 1:25 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful box cover art.
- Art goes all the way to the edge of the card.
- Madness tokens are large, durable, and functional.
- Rules are immersive, presented as a manuscript.
- Easier to pick up if you've played Tides of Time.
- Madness tokens add tension and strategic depth.
- Madness tokens level out gameplay and add complexity.
Cons
- The Kings Nest card is slightly overpowered and can skew the game.
- The game can feel a bit unbalanced if the King's Nest is used strategically.
Thematic elements
- Pushing to the brink of insanity to garner the most victory points.
- World of HP Lovecraft
Comparison games
- Tides of Time
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — Pure card drafting games where players pick cards to keep and pass the rest on.
- Push Your Luck — Players gain madness tokens and risk losing the game if they accumulate too many.
- Set Collection — Games are set collecting card drafting games.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hands down both of them are equally as impressive so they both get my thumbs up
- I will have to choose Tides of Madness
- So Tides of Time and Tides of Madness are pure card drafting games.
- The Kings Nest is in here this is a really good card because if you're tying with another player you actually win the tying get the point
- Using it in a very strategic way can make the game feel a bit in balance
- Tides of madness comes up on top in terms of gameplay
- Especially because those madness tokens really level out the gameplay a little bit more and add a little bit of complexity
- So is more about collecting the actual sets of different suits and maximizing the scores that way
- The games so similar that you only really need one and not the other
- If you're asking for my preference I would say that probably Tides of Madness
- There's a bit of a rarity it's supposed to be a face book but this is melding the two together is if you have four players that's really interesting to try and combine the two sets of cards together
References (from this video)
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Video xeNu4r4lZVY
Rolling Dice & Taking Names News at 34:09
video_pk 96292 · mention_pk 264520
Click to watch at 34:09 · 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)
- The Squirrelies are the type of award show that you would expect from RDTN.
- Get it? Gy. Not like game as in the smell, but gy as in playing board games. Get it?
- Man, brevity, I love it. You know, it speaks to me.
- Autobots roll out.
- So, the other guy gave me the award, not not Marty, you know, who's the guy, right?
- I wonder if they do automatic draft over there at Fantasy Flight from your checking account.
- And we really need to give that one another shot.
References (from this video)
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Video ZEBBoql-ufw
Rolling Dice & Taking Names Review at 3:59 sentiment: positive
video_pk 93563 · mention_pk 253350
Click to watch at 3:59 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Mentioned as a smaller new release.
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's a cooperative game where it's kind of hard to cooperate.
- The walkers are more like environmental hazards in this game.
- Designing is cutting like you have at the very beginning have many many ideas and then you just cutting cutting cutting until it's done.
- I love the dice tower network.
- I'll just say it's a 16 by 16, so I hope you got bolted to the wall.
References (from this video)
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Video 2CKSuG5D7JI
Getting Games Review at 41:49 sentiment: positive
video_pk 92160 · mention_pk 247485
Click to watch at 41:49 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- noted as a small game that fits well in the collection
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- madness and exploration
- seems to be a continuation in a Lovecraftian-tinted theme
- short, tense decisions in a compact format
Comparison games
- Tides of Time
- Diamont
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- sequel tie-in — described as a sequel to Tides of Time; mechanics not explicitly detailed in transcript
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- balance is really important and having other interests is really important
- she's my best friend she's my favorite person and best friend
- thanks everyone I really appreciate it
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cbBFm3Wk_iY
Watch It Played Discussion at 1:28:15 sentiment: other
video_pk 92188 · mention_pk 247642
Click to watch at 1:28:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Instructional video is being released soon, and the game will be at Gen Con.
Pros
- Instructional video coming soon
- Will be at Gen Con
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Lovecraftian horror
Comparison games
- Tides of Time
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — Similar to Tides of Time, involves drafting cards.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Pap, you still haven't received your Tekkaido that you backed at a pretty high amount because you got your own character in the game.
- It's funny. We we talked about that at some point. Just like the humor, like the humor of doing something like a pep talks where I would talk about, you know, like some advice for particular games and it's something I like that. I like that. I love that idea of a pep talk.
- Rebel Mage here uh, left a message just said, "Pep, just want to say you're a great co-host for watching play. Keep up the good work."
- For me, it's probably going to be Star Realms. Star Realms is very high on here as well for me. Um, but I kind of want to skip that just because of how repeatable Star Realms is anyway. And I'm going to go to Sheriff of Nottingham.
- Uh, this is self- serving, but I would dress up as a Mounty and be my character from the Dead of Winter promo that's in the fundraiser.
- I'd want to find something I already look like and kind of like I wouldn't just go as my favorite character. I'd go as a character that I think I that I could that I could best look even kind of naturally almost, right?
- Yes, we talk about it somewhat frequently actually. Like, oh, we should probably cover some of the old older classics. Yeah, cuz there are still people today who pick up those games and and want to uh learn how to play them, right?
- Every game. But the one that always comes to mind for me is uh Pathfinder and any game that's kind of trying to do what the Pathfinder adventure card game is doing because in that game whenever you level up and complete missions, you get like draw a random item out of the box or do this or do that.
- Like Seall has something similar to that. They have an emnity thing. If you attack someone then they remember that other players remember that in in the game's mechanics and then that comes back to haunt you later or whatever.
- The whole idea of under Mountain is like it's constantly shifting and like it's the surroundings are changing. So every time you go down, things will be a little different anyway. So it' be really cool to make like a legacy style dungeon exploring thing around the end of that naturally.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video thRLlyeOEd0
Watch It Played Rules Teach at 0:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65136 · mention_pk 158760
Click to watch at 0:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Players gather knowledge about the ancient ones to score points.
- The game is played over three rounds, with each round having distinct phases.
- Different cards offer various ways to score points.
- The order of card reception ensures different choices each play.
Cons
- Players can go insane and lose the game if they accumulate nine or more madness tokens.
Thematic elements
- Discover the secrets of the ancient ones and avoid madness
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — Players choose one card from their hand, reveal it, and then exchange unchosen cards with their opponent, repeating this process until a set number of cards are collected.
- Hand Management — Players manage cards in their hand, choosing which to keep, discard, or permanently remove from the game.
- Push Your Luck — Players must balance gaining points with the risk of accumulating too many madness tokens, which can lead to losing the game.
- Set Collection — Players score points based on collecting sets of indicated symbols or having a majority in specific suits.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hi, welcome to Watch It Played. My name is Rodney Smith.
- In this video, we're going to learn the two-player game Tides of Madness, designed by Christian Krill and published by Portal Games.
- As you race to discover the secrets of the ancient ones you'll need to thwart your opponent and avoid certain madness.
- So, join me at the table and let's learn how to play.
- And that's everything you need to know to play Tides of Madness.
- If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to put them in the comments below and I'll gladly answer them as soon as I get a chance.
- But until the next episode, thanks for watching.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qzacXk9yosY
Grant Lyon Top 10 List at 0:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 33306 · mention_pk 214206
Click to watch at 0:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong thematic flavor
- Tension and excitement during play
Cons
- Luck-based elements can feel random
- Complex for casual players
Thematic elements
- arcade-style Lovecraftian dread
- A horror-inspired tower with entropic forces and tentacle peril.
- dice-driven, frantic exploration with a perilous tower
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Rolling — Roll dice to accumulate successes toward a goal while avoiding catastrophic results.
- dice-rolling — Roll dice to accumulate successes toward a goal while avoiding catastrophic results.
- Push Your Luck — Decide whether to continue rolling to achieve more successes or pull back to safety as risk increases.
- push-your-luck — Decide whether to continue rolling to achieve more successes or pull back to safety as risk increases.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The creepiest game I've ever played.
- It's hilarious.
- Paranormal Detectives is the silliest game on this list.
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a hidden roll game for up to 10 players.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video krQHLP-fRHg
Getting Games Playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8697 · mention_pk 25661
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Tense, well-balanced drafting that scales nicely in two-player
- Madness as a meaningful, risk-reward resource that drives decisions
- Dense Lovecraftian theme with multiple viable scoring avenues
- Clear interaction through drafting and strategic hand management
- Potential for dramatic comebacks via cross-card synergies
- High replayability due to varied card combinations and sets
Cons
- Rule complexity and memory load can be intimidating
- Scoring can require careful bookkeeping and a scoring pad
- Flavor text and terminology may feel opaque to newcomers
- Initial hand luck can influence early strategy
- Across rounds, players must track multiple categories simultaneously
- Thematic density may not appeal to all players
Thematic elements
- Madness, risk management, tableau-building through card drafting and set-collection
- Lovecraftian Cthulhu universe
- Competitive drafting with escalating madness and thematic flavor
Comparison games
- Tides of Time
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card removal and round-end turnover — At the end of each round, players remove a card from the game and the remaining cards are permanently placed face-up for scoring; this shapes the available future options.
- Compound Scoring — The game unfolds over three rounds with scoring after each round and a final tally at the end.
- Madness as a resource — Madness tokens are gained from cards and tentacles; excess Madness can cause an immediate loss, but Madness can also be converted into victory points or used to deny opponents.
- Set collection and majority scoring — Points are awarded for majorities in various categories (manuscripts, locations, outer gods, races, great old ones) and interactions between these sets create dynamic scoring opportunities.
- Three-round pacing with round-based scoring — The game unfolds over three rounds with scoring after each round and a final tally at the end.
- Two-player drafting with pass-and-reveal — Each round, both players select one card face-down, reveal simultaneously, then pass the remaining four to the opponent and select from the new four on the next reveal.
- Wild and suitless cards — Some cards are suitless or wild, which alters how majorities are computed and adds flexibility for pursuing certain combos.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a two-player only handd drafting Style game that is set in the lovecraftian cthulu universe
- Madness can be bad if you ever end around with nine or more Madness you immediately lose the game
- this dreamlands is one of the three suitless cards and in fact it says this uh card has a wild suit so it does actually have a suit
- it's a no-brainer we are going to pick this card here
- that was a humongous 37 points
- this is a really big win for us in the end
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Z8hrxQd6KA4
Board Game Spotlight Discussion at 17:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7121 · mention_pk 114261
Click to watch at 17:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- thematic and tactile
- great atmosphere at table
Cons
- can be fiddly and unforgiving
Thematic elements
- dice-and-tower with stacking
- cthulhu-themed tower-building
- fantasy/horror-light
Comparison games
- Bandu
- Drop It
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dexterity — physical precision under time/pressure
- dice_placement — balance dice into a tower with constraints
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Dexterity games it's a sport-like element, there's almost a sport aspect to a dexterity game.
- we love to hate games, we love to hate.
- Strike is a ton of fun and is accessible for a big group.
- it's not only like rewarding when you're actually able to make some really awesome throws but it's not like really complicated.
- there's social contract at the table of like we're around a table and it's okay to be a troll and to like cut people out of deals but there's that level you can take it.
- this is the best real time game that I have in my collection.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Z8hrxQd6KA4
Board Game Spotlight Discussion at 17:30 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7121 · mention_pk 114268
Click to watch at 17:30 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- thematic, tactile
- great for tense yet humorous table moments
Cons
- can be fiddly and punishing
Thematic elements
- dice balancing with a gothic vibe
- cthulhu-inspired tower
- adventure/chaos
Comparison games
- Bandu
- Drop It
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice_piling — stack dice into a tower with risk of collapse
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Dexterity games it's a sport-like element, there's almost a sport aspect to a dexterity game.
- we love to hate games, we love to hate.
- Strike is a ton of fun and is accessible for a big group.
- it's not only like rewarding when you're actually able to make some really awesome throws but it's not like really complicated.
- there's social contract at the table of like we're around a table and it's okay to be a troll and to like cut people out of deals but there's that level you can take it.
- this is the best real time game that I have in my collection.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video P9zZvuyYDis
The Dice Tower Other at 3:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4840 · mention_pk 14265
Click to watch at 3:29 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fun
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
- Tides of Time
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Shelf 16 is kind of a an odd mix here
- This shelf has twice as many games as most shelves
- one of my favorite two-player games, but it's very difficult to learn and play
- Fantastic abstract strategy game
- Such a classic game and I like it a lot
- I don't know why I like it so much, but I do
- one of the most beautiful dexterity/party games there are
- There are so many games on the shelf
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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