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Game Info
Year
2001
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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Description
In Urland, players compete to get their creatures on land. One player selects which land area is scored in a turn while other players use a number of actions to move their creatures around. At certain intervals on the scoring track, gene modifications are auctioned which offer additional actions to the players.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video sziyl2ezKes
Meeple University Playthrough at 0:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 64184 · mention_pk 157663
Click to watch at 0:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- colorful presentation and components
- deep thinkiness and chesslike pacing
- dynamic interactions due to holes and competition for majorities
- varied player counts affect board layout and strategy
Cons
- starting hand not ideal for one player
- endgame can be tense and risky; missteps can lead to unexpected outcomes
- pollen/hay fever discussion is not about game but captured as a distraction
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Quest for El Dorado
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — When circles are surrounded, the majority of insects on that circle determines who gains meeples.
- deck management — Each player has a 15-card deck; five cards drawn as a hand; on your turn you play one card.
- dynamic holes — Incomplete circles create holes that get filled, with the player who created holes gaining placement control.
- End conditions — Game ends when a meeple pile is depleted or players are out of cards or the bag is empty.
- majority scoring — When circles are surrounded, the majority of insects on that circle determines who gains meeples.
- tile placement — Players play a card to place a tile on a grid with the goal of surrounding circles.
- wilds — Stars on cards count as wild and affect scoring as both insects.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a symmetrical sort of tile placement game.
- This is a tile placement game with a whole lot of majority seeking and an interesting way of scoring.
- And at the end of the game, it's all on majorities.
- We've gone into thinky mode, everyone.
- Chesslike.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video LKuaVr7eNpY
Beyond Solitaire Interview at 1:11 sentiment: positive
video_pk 41931 · mention_pk 152527
Click to watch at 1:11 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Innovative use of political geography within a coin-series framework
- Faith-based mechanics add depth and thematic clarity
- Clear visual indicators of clan loyalty on the map
- Rich historical concepts (Ikawiki, peasant uprisings) offer fertile storytelling ground
Cons
- Subject matter is obscure and requires substantial historical research
- Complexity can raise learning curve and prolong development/testing
- Solo modes and broader variants demand additional design and testing effort
Thematic elements
- Religion, peasant unrest, loyalty dynamics, and political stability during a period of civil war; governance framed through ideological movements rather than purely geographic terrain.
- Civil war-era Japan in the 15th century, the early Sengoku period, birthplace of the Ikawiki Buddhist radicals, with large peasant uprisings and factional conflict.
- historical, geopolitical, with a focus on factional loyalties and the spread of religious influence shaping political outcomes
Comparison games
- Gandhi
- Pen Dragon
- Fall of Saigon
- Fire in the Lake
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- clan loyalty — Provinces belong to clans and loyalty can shift between the two conventional factions, affecting where you recruit and how you control the map.
- nembutsu markers — Markers representing the spread of the Jōdo Shinshu faith, which in turn affects social unrest and faction actions.
- non-player system (Jackard-style) — A card-based non-player system with action cards and cross-referenced matrices to resolve NPC actions, enabling solo or indirect play.
- peasant revolts — Peasant uprisings influence stability and faction strength, introducing social dynamics into strategic decisions.
- political geography — The map emphasizes political relationships over traditional terrain; provinces are governed by clans with changing loyalties.
- recruitment from provinces — Recruitment sources are determined by provincial allegiance, shaping strategic choices.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's a coin series game about a fairly obscure Japanese war in the 15th century.
- There's this backdrop of civil war between two more conventional powers, but at the same time, they're both trying to maintain the traditional system which they want to rule.
- I think it's important to maintain the existing systems if you're working in a series game and only add in a couple of new things.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–2 of 2