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20 Strong Family
(8 games)
Part of the 20 Strong family — see 20 Strong for the combined view.
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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 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video a7jV9SOUWkU
Board Games UnLocked Review at 0:16 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 112605 · mention_pk 324204
Click to watch at 0:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Simplicity of the Tangle Woods Gold, making it more manageable.
- The ability to pay gold to decide which bear goes into the deck.
- The merchant system's effects are liked, such as recovering dice and increasing stats.
- Setup is straightforward.
Cons
- The ambush effect is disliked as it makes the game more lucky and a pain to play.
- The merchant system's timing (at the end of the game) and the inability to bribe enemies with high bribe values can be frustrating.
- Items feel not that good and too restrictive.
- The game is too long, taking about an hour and a half.
- The concept of a bad roguelike where a long play session can end in a demoralizing loss.
- The positive and negative effects from defeating bears are just 'whatever'.
- Daytime and nighttime effects are described as 'just whatever' and 'not great'.
Thematic elements
- Fairy tale with Goldilocks and the three bears
- forest
Comparison games
- Hoplamachus
- Solar Sentinels
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Ambush — An icon that, when seen on a card, triggers an effect regardless of whether the card is added to the player's tableau. These can be good or bad.
- boss battle — The goal is to defeat the three bears (baby bear, mama bear, papa bear) who are set off to the side and can be paid gold to put into the enemy deck.
- Currency (Gold) — Gold is a currency used to buy items or effects at the merchant, or to bribe enemies to not have to deal with their card.
- day/night cycle — Forest cards flip from green (daytime) to purple (nighttime) as they are encountered or discarded, making the game progressively harder.
- Deck Building — Players build out the enemy deck instead of it just randomly being from the top of a deck.
- Item Upgrades — Items can be upgraded by paying gold. Some enemies or fable cards give a chance to gain a free item or an upgraded item.
- Merchant System — The map card dictates whether or not you get to visit the merchant, which is the very last thing you do. You can spend gold to recover dice, increase stats, or bait bears into the deck.
- Positive/Negative Effects — When bears are defeated, they give a positive and a negative effect that lasts for the remainder of the run.
- Stat progression — Players can pay gold at the merchant to increase their stats, though it costs a lot.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I actually really don't like this system at all.
- I think the ambush effect almost always hurts you.
- Overall, here's my biggest biggest issue, and I know I'm going to say it for all the other Tangle Woods reviews. This Tangle Wood series, every single box is way too long.
- And I think this one's kind of a five.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZtgMp0P9ivA
One Stop Co-op Shop Playthrough at 0:11 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84634 · mention_pk 215190
Click to watch at 0:11 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- The Prince/Beast's abilities are strong, especially the red die interactions.
- The game offers variety with five characters in the set.
- The evolving deck with day/night cards adds dynamic challenge.
- The ability to bribe enemies can be a strategic lifesaver.
- The core loop of managing map and forest cards is engaging.
- The game provides a free upgraded item early in a successful run.
- The inclusion of familiar fairy tale characters is appealing.
Cons
- The host was initially beaten badly with Goldilocks.
- Ambush effects can be disruptive and resolve immediately upon drawing.
- Some map cards have negative effects that can make the game harder.
- The game can be challenging, with the host's initial play resulting in defeat.
- Chip Theory rulebooks are sometimes unclear.
Thematic elements
- Goldilocks
Comparison games
- 20 Strong
- Tangle Woods Red
- Tangle Woods White
- Too Many Bones
- Victoria
- Solar Sentinels
- Baba Yaga
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose which map cards to resolve and which forest cards to place in their tableau, along with a bribery phase.
- Bribing — Gold can be spent to remove enemies from the engagement, preventing them from attacking or triggering their effects.
- deck cycling — The discard pile is shuffled back into the deck, and the composition of the deck changes (day/night cards) over time.
- Dice Rolling — Players roll dice committed to actions, with results like hits, crits, or specific symbols determining success.
- Flipping — Heroes and enemies flip to different sides, changing their abilities or orientation based on game events like taking damage or specific triggers.
- Item Upgrading — Item cards can be upgraded to a stronger side, often at a cost at the merchant.
- Tableau Building — Cards representing enemies or fables are added to the player's tableau, requiring certain directional fulfillments.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- If you like the content on the OneTop Co-op shop, consider supporting us through Patreon.
- The beast one seems a bit more consistently useful.
- The deck kind of evolves as you take longer and longer to defeat the bears.
- This one says, 'Non-boss enemies with ambush effects have plus one health and plus one damage.'
- So, what the hey, let's uh pay three and bribe Gnome alone.
- And yeah, on the original side it was only one six of a time because you're only rolling one yellow dye.
- I am going to spend five of my six to put... lose half your gold and then add a number of enemies from the top of the discard pile to your tableau equal to your hearts minus your hero's starting heart.
- So, cool. But yeah, I would have won immediately.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video lQ00LZAx7l0
One Stop Co-op Shop Top List at 8:23 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84143 · mention_pk 213520
Click to watch at 8:23 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Adore the day/night mechanic.
- Makes the game feel like the environment is evolving.
- Less out of control leveling.
- More epic fights.
- Fun to see how enemies or events evolve.
- Fights don't feel rote, require more thought.
- Really fun and varied gameplay.
Cons
- The bear mechanic can be swingy.
- Sometimes the game ends with a bit of a whimper instead of an exciting final boss fight.
Thematic elements
- Forest
Comparison games
- Paleo
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Bear Mechanic — Bears are paid for and added to the deck, appearing at random times.
- day/night cycle — Map cards turn to their night side, which is more challenging and dangerous.
- Forest Blessing — A primary way to level up, with costs increasing significantly as stats get higher.
- Map Card Drawing — Drawing cards and flipping from the bottom to get directions to finish the map journey.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, these are just my current rankings at this point in time. And honestly, it's really pretty close.
- The very worst one worst, the number six one, as you'll see, is still one that I enjoy quite a lot. And the number one one I still have some problems with. So, uh, none of them are flawless.
- The Tangle Woods sets are much more similar to each other than Victorium is the Too Many Bones is the Solar Sentinels the original three sets. They have similar mechanics, repeated elements, repeated enemies, almost like they're riffing on the same system, whereas I feel like Victorium and Too Many Bones go in wildly different directions.
- Solar Sentinels is when you get down to it 20 strong distilled to its simplest components. And in some ways, that shows the game off at its best.
- But still with the great dayight mechanic, with the less out of control leveling, with the more epic fights, this is my number one out of all six sets.
- If you want a season that is more drastically different, I would go with the original three. They really change up the mechanics in wild ways. If you want something that is, I think, a bit more consistently strong and interesting and complex. Uh you can see that they're just like kind of thicker boxes with more stuff in them, I think you got to go with Tangle Woods.
- And as long as they don't have AI art, which I don't think they're going to, then I'm very excited to play those.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video wZbveF9ZBOw
Board Games UnLocked Top List at 2:39 sentiment: negative
video_pk 82401 · mention_pk 207018
Click to watch at 2:39 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
none
Cons
- Removed the fable system
- Constant flood of enemies
- Frustrating due to poor rolls and enemy swarms
- Overly complex rules for a simple system
Thematic elements
- Goldilocks searching the woods and fighting the three bears
- Woods
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Boss combat — Defeating bosses causes a negative effect, making subsequent bosses harder.
- Day/night element — Involved a row of cards with directional orientations that needed to be filled by spawning enemies.
- Gold management — Gold is used to bribe enemies and buy items.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hofflamus Vtorum. This one gets a lot of credit because at the time I played this, I did not like Hoffamachus Vtorum as a game.
- All that being said, the 20 strong version I did enjoy because I already knew that the system was a push your luck element and this kind of it's also not 8 hours long.
- So, if you like the idea of Hoplamakus Victorium, but don't have a couple hundred bucks to shell out um or you don't have the time, let's say you do own it, but you don't have the time to actually sit down and commit to a, you know, eight hour campaign. Well, then play this.
- Cloudspire came around and I was like, oh no, this system is good when you take it back to its roots and you don't add a bunch of [ __ ] that makes it way too long and way too random and you streamline it.
- my favorite one of 20 Strong is the original Solar Sentinels
- This I feel like is obviously it's it's just the OG. And I think it does it best. It it fits this 20 strong system the best.
- And in and of itself just makes this one my favorite to play.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ehpuOjKyCCw
The Discriminating Gamer Review at 0:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 82214 · mention_pk 206491
Click to watch at 0:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Imaginative and immersive solitaire experience using a simple deck of cards
- Strong variation across different decks within the 20 Strong system
- Engaging progression through map and forest cards with meaningful merchant options
- Bear-boss mechanic creates a clear endgame objective and escalating tension
Cons
- Starting with Goldie can significantly constrain early strategy choices
- Difficulty curve can be steep for new players or those unfamiliar with the 20 Strong system
- Some players may crave more boss-battle structure or narrative payoff compared to Red edition
Thematic elements
- Adventure, exploration, and confrontation with forest adversaries (bears) within a modular deck-building framework
- Fairy tale forest narrative inspired by the Goldilocks story, integrated into the 20 Strong system
- Array
- Story-driven, with a fairy tale framework embedded into an ongoing solitaire/solo experience
Comparison games
- Tangle Woods Red
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Interruption — Ambush cards force immediate effects that can disrupt plans and create pressure during a round.
- ambushes — Ambush cards force immediate effects that can disrupt plans and create pressure during a round.
- bear_integration — Three bears are introduced into the deck; defeating them is the objective to win the scenario.
- day_night_cycle — Day and night sides influence difficulty and available actions, with night typically increasing challenge.
- ded_building — Players build a personal tableau by drawing and playing cards from the forest deck to match map card requirements.
- dice_resolution — Dice are rolled to perform actions and resolve combat against minions and fables, constrained by strategy level.
- map_card_selection — Prior to each round, players select a number of map cards equal to their strategy level and place one face-down to navigate the forest.
- merchant_and_purchases — Merchants offer items and upgrades; some options allow inserting bears into the forest deck, changing later encounters.
- path_direction — Map cards include directional cues that drive route choices and determine which encounters become relevant.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's an imaginative game
- it's an immersive solitaire experience
- I'll give this an eight on the Cody scale
- the simple deck of cards can create this really immersive solitaire experience
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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