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Game Info
Year
2024
Players
2-5
Playtime
30 min
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
In the card game Xylotar, you’ve found the long lost xylotar schematics from the instrument originally designed by Bobby McColdsnap and Keifer Basset. This unique musical device was based on both xylophone and synthesizer technology in the mid 80's. and was created as an alternative to the keytars of the era.
Without knowing exactly how it should work, play until you discover the sweetest sounds. The player who scores the most points has found the perfect balance of 80’s synthesizer rock and modern carimba-style melodies. Only then can you mass produce the xylotar, succeeding in your goal of achieving moderate commercial success!
In this trick-taking game players know only the colors of their cards and their relative order. Use deduction and observation to figure out the value of your cards, then bid to try to gain extra points.
—description from the publisher
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 2
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video jZizZgO2XD0
Chairman of the Board Top List at 0:34 sentiment: negative
video_pk 85584 · mention_pk 219674
Click to watch at 0:34 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Appreciates some of the twists, especially the deduction part.
- Nice bright colors, nicely displayed, good design, cute cover.
Cons
- Feels like another trick-taking game and doesn't do enough to separate itself.
- Luck factor plays too much of a part.
- Game play just felt like another trick taker, not the reviewer's cup of tea.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Bomb Busters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — Players have cards with unknown exact numbers, only a range, placed in numerical order by an adjacent player.
- Trick taking — The core mechanic involves leading a trick, playing a card of matching color if possible, and the highest number winning the trick.
- Trump suit — There is a trump suit, indicated by red cards.
- Wagering — Players can look at two adjacent cards secretly and choose one as a wager for how many tricks they will win.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is where I take a look at the last five new to me board games that I've played and I rank and review them in order of preference.
- although it's a cool twist on trick taking, it does just feel like another trick ticking game to me, which automatically does kind of handicap it really because I'm not a big fan of trick ticking games in general.
- Yes, mechanisms wise, uh this is pretty terrible. Um but in practice, the game is a lot of fun.
- So, this definitely did have that perfect DNA to have constant um expansion material coming out for it.
- But I think I would rather lean towards something a bit more, I don't know, a bit more in your face, a bit more exciting, and with a bit more interesting player action.
- And I have to say this is one of the most gorgeous games that I've ever played. You know the visual appeal is off the charts here.
- So, it's all very straightforward stuff, but as I mentioned earlier, it does a great job of introducing or yeah, kind of like drip feeding you mechanisms you're going to see in more advanced games.
- So, be sure to check this one out when it comes up on um on crowdfunding.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video oczpRB1A_f8
Chairman of the Board Discussion at 11:09 sentiment: negative
video_pk 85529 · mention_pk 219391
Click to watch at 11:09 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Negative
Pros
none
Cons
- Not a fan
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — 23 minutes for a trick taking deduction game.
- Trick-Taking — 23 minutes for a trick taking deduction game.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- RA, uh, 33 minutes and 28 seconds, and this was one of the biggest car crash games of RA that I've played.
- I have to admit, I did bounce off this one quite hard. I wasn't really a fan of it.
- And this one, I really like the gameplay, but it is too long.
- I think for an introductory Euro style game, this game does such a fantastic job of giving you the giving you the seven wonders experience in the most streamlined way possible.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video tAEkS8w3NYs
Grant Lyon Top List at 15:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81830 · mention_pk 204588
Click to watch at 15:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- unique mix of trick-taking and deduction
- interesting hand passing mechanic
- deduction elements provide information as game progresses
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — trying to deduce what cards you might have where and what you can win or lose tricks with.
- Hand Passing — arranging the cards from highest number to lowest number. But, you are not arranging them for yourself. You are then passing that hand of cards to another player.
- Information hiding — That player does not get to look at the cards. Instead, they will lay them all out in front of them in the order in which you arranged them.
- Suit and number range visibility — on the back of the cards, what they can see is they can see the suit of the card and they can also see the number range of the card.
- Trick-Taking — playing a trick-taking game where you are, you know, having to follow suit. You are putting a card out. You are trying to win tricks most of the time
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- At this point, I feel like it wouldn't be a Grant's Game Rex top 10 unless I threw an 11th game into the into the mix, into the list, onto the list.
- Number three on my list is in fact the newest game on this list.
- I absolutely love Flip Tunes.
- Although again, probably one of the more strategic games on this list.
- And so, every round there is an excitement factor, a level of excitement that I think that makes the game really fun where you're like, you're flipping cards out and you're like, "Yes. Oh, I needed that one to come out." OR LIKE, "NO, I NEEDED that one to be on the top row and now it's on the bottom row, dang it."
- Number two on my list of the top 10 pocket games of all time is probably my most played game of any on this list and it is the game Love Letter.
- This is one of those games that sort of got me into the modern hobby of board games.
- And I love the player interaction and it's very simple to teach.
- And the number one game when I think of my top pocket games of all time.
- And the reason this is number one is when I thought about doing this topic as a video, this is the first game that popped in my head and that is Deep Sea Adventure.
- And the further out from the submarine you get, the farther out from the submarine that you get, the higher value the treasure. But also, the harder it is to get back to the submarine before the oxygen runs out.
- Everybody thinks they're going to make it back. You're not. You're not going to make it back.
- The sort of table trash talking of Deep Sea Adventure is really fun and I've had memorable moments playing Deep Sea Adventure in countries all over the world.
- If you have really great pocket game that you feel more people should know about, put it in the comments.
- Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for liking, subscribing, and all that great stuff.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video TZ_6HKyOvPg
Board Game Animal Review at 0:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 29996 · mention_pk 88042
Click to watch at 0:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fresh take on the trick-taking genre with a memory/partial-information twist
- Distinctive from many standard trick-taking games, offering a different cognitive load
Cons
- Can be distracting or confusing for players who prefer perfect information
- May require a learning curve to fully appreciate the memory mechanics
Thematic elements
- uncertainty, deduction, and shared information about hidden cards
- Abstract arena of trick-taking with a memory-infused mechanic where hands are partially revealed through neighbor memory.
- strategic abstract gameplay with a focus on memory and misdirection
Comparison games
- Tazumata Trick from New Mill
- Rebel Princess base
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Neighbor hand memory placement — A process where the hand of a neighboring player is laid out or interpreted in a way that informs the rest of the table about its composition without revealing exact cards.
- Partial information trick-taking — Players play tricks while some card information is implied or inferred from neighbor memories rather than explicitly known to all.
- Trick-Taking — Players play tricks while some card information is implied or inferred from neighbor memories rather than explicitly known to all.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Rock on, Bob.
- If you like trick taking or if you like general card games with asymmetric powers, do not hesitate to try this one out. You won't be disappointed.
- Happily Ever After is really, really, really super splendid.
- Two new princesses and a few more round powers.
- The fact that Rebel Princess already had copious amounts of options to affect the game state and what felt like limitless replay-ability thanks to infinite amount of combinations...
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video lyhHqzUeM1s
The Dice Tower Top List at 7:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4152 · mention_pk 12168
Click to watch at 7:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fresh twist on trick-taking
- Zany theme and memorable teaching moments
Cons
- Accessibility may vary; theme may not appeal to everyone
Thematic elements
- quirky and whimsical
- Zany theme with twist on trick-taking
- humorous
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card rotation / hand management — Passing and reordering hands adds strategic depth.
- Trick-taking with a twist — Players arrange dealt cards by suit order; cards are passed and played in a new sequence.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's a stocking stuffer, to go under the tree, whatever it might be.
- The box will fit into a stocking.
- Wine Seller is the number one card game for Christmas.
- It's a really fun mechanism.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5