Game Info
Year
2025
Players
2-5
Age
14+
Playtime
105 min
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
Global domination auction game where rival secret factions compete in high-stakes auctions deploying agents and launching projects
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Images
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 2 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video l5fXozbLXJA
Board Gaming Ramblings Discussion at 10:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 99484 · mention_pk 276604
Click to watch at 10:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Tuck boxes turn into player shields.
- Smartest design element seen in a long time.
- The design works.
Cons
- The game itself was good but not kept.
- The player shield mechanism is the standout feature, not the whole game.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Player Shields — The tuck boxes can be folded into player shields.
- Tuck boxes — The game uses tuck boxes for components.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The board game hobby is very second half year focused.
- Which game do you want to take on a second date? Also known as impressed you most after a first play.
- Which game hit the table more than any other this year?
- What was your biggest surprise {question mark} and or disappointment?
- What games production or art has impressed you the most?
- Which is your most reliable introductory board game?
- Which cult of the old title, uh 10 plus years old, did you discover for the first time this year?
- What is currently at the top of your wish list?
- Shout-out hello to a creator, podcast, blog, or local game store that made your year better.
- What was a favorite piece of content that you made this year?
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video sprEB7tz_oQ
Shelfside Review at 0:00 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 84369 · mention_pk 214358
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Solid bidding system with high interaction
- Strong asymmetry delivers varied play experiences
- Highly tactile components and well-integrated wooden money and markers
- Strong potential replayability with many factions and setups
- Thoughtful integration of growth phase with bidding outcomes
Cons
- Growth phase can be convoluted and lengthy for new players
- Rulebook and onboarding are not as clear or beginner-friendly as they could be
- Prototype had some production and component clarity issues (rules, icons, etc.)
Thematic elements
- power, influence, and manipulation through bidding and asymmetric faction abilities
- Global influence and secret societies; bidding across countries (deeds) to build networks and power
- asymmetric, interactive eurogame with light thematic framing around secret societies
Comparison games
- Hrien's Wall
- Rising Sun
- High Society
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Agent and research tricks — Five generic tricks plus faction-specific upgrades (agents, research, etc.) add depth and variability to bidding, allowing players to alter tile placement, bid counts, or access additional actions.
- Asymmetric faction abilities — Each faction has unique powers that can trigger during bidding or resolution (e.g., Stonesmith can view a face-down deed). This creates divergent strategies per player.
- Asymmetric Player Powers — Each faction has unique powers that can trigger during bidding or resolution (e.g., Stonesmith can view a face-down deed). This creates divergent strategies per player.
- Auction / Bidding — Each round reveals a deed (country) to bid on. Players place bids, one can be face-down; bids can be boosted with coins up to the bottom number, but the final cost must be paid with money regardless of boost. Resolution is left-to-right with interactions across bids.
- Bidding with face-down and boosted bids — Each round reveals a deed (country) to bid on. Players place bids, one can be face-down; bids can be boosted with coins up to the bottom number, but the final cost must be paid with money regardless of boost. Resolution is left-to-right with interactions across bids.
- Color sets, routes, and monuments — Completing color rows yields trade routes; collecting colors can create monuments that score and grant immediate benefits. Islands grant starting board bonuses and affect scoring through connections.
- Dummy bids for two players — A special mechanism to add uncertainty and maintain tension in lower player counts, with different factions handling dummy bids uniquely.
- Resolution interdependencies — How a bid resolves influences later bids in the same round; early wins or losses can shift decisions for subsequent countries, creating a dynamic flow of money and position.
- Resource-driven growth phase — In growth, players simultaneously spend resources to upgrade their boards: investments in regions, treasury investments, and starting projects that grant permanent abilities and influence scoring.
- Round conferences and growth pacing — Rounds four and six include conferences that influence scoring and pacing, adding mid-game milestones and strategic shifts.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Secret Societies has a really solid bidding system especially for how easy it is to start doing.
- Boosting is like a fun pusher luck where you basically win big off of small cards or lose hard as you lose the bid and all your boost goes down the drain.
- The bidding is immensely solid with tons of interaction.
- There’s a lot of feels good interaction as the game progresses.
- The growth phase is thinky about how to upgrade and invest, and it can be a puzzle to optimize your engine.
- If you're like me and just simply care about asymmetric replayability... at least 16 plays of this game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cG_fS-pMp28
Board Gaming Ramblings Other at 13:05 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 80586 · mention_pk 196563
Click to watch at 13:05 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Engaging bidding mechanism
- Interesting asymmetric player powers
- High quality components
- Can overcome a bad start (one player ended second despite feeling behind)
Cons
- Game is long
- High information complexity regarding player powers
- Can feel like a runaway winner if you get a good head start
- Longer play time at higher player counts
Thematic elements
- Factions competing for countries/resources
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric Player Powers — You have different factions and the faction that you have changes some rules for you or you have a special ability or you can also upgrade your player boards so you get even more unique abilities than the other players.
- bidding — It's a bidding game. You have different like countries that have different resources and you want also the countries for set collection that you're all bidding on.
- Resource Management — You're trying to use the resource that you get from the cards to build up your income and your player powers.
- Set Collection — You want also the countries for set collection that you're all bidding on.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hello everyone, this is Senan.
- And this is Johannes.
- Welcome back to Keep or Cull, the series where we play all the games and decide whether we want to keep them or cull them right out of the collection.
- It's a double keep.
- Double cow.
- It's a call for me, a keep from you.
- It's a double kick.
- It's a keep count from you and a count from me.
- It's a keep from me, a call from you.
- It's still a keep.
- And those are 10 more games and we did like a 50/50 this time. We kept five and we culled five.
- My favorite, I think actually Inside Job.
- My favorite is either Wild West or Inside Job.
- And that's going to be the end of the video. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Johannes and you've been watching Board Gaming Ramblings and bye-bye.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 7NVPok-W0oA
The Brothers Murph Top List at 15:09 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80422 · mention_pk 195715
Click to watch at 15:09 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique faction mechanics
- Intriguing theme
- Lots of variety and depth
- Cool art
- Fun to be playful with the conspiratorial nature
Cons
- Haven't had a chance to play it a lot
- Don't have a finished copy yet
Thematic elements
- Conspiracy theories, secret societies
- World domination
Comparison games
- Ancient Anthology
- Spirited
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — You do that by putting out your um kind of bid markers which will have a certain amount of um bid strength on them.
- Asymmetric Player Powers — The secret societies are like the lizard people, masons, aliens, influencers, tech bros... they all work pretty darn differently.
- bidding — It's essentially a bidding game where there's going to be these various deeds out there which are going to be various countries that you're basically trying to covertly control.
- Resource Management — You can either like kind of slot it above or below your board depending on if you want land or contract to kind of bump up these tracks and complete things.
- Set Collection — You're basically trying to get again property and land and all these different things and trying to set collect through these various countries and stuff.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is our mid-year Oscars.
- This is really like the pre-Gen Con the pre-convention season list.
- So, number 10 is going to be a game that I didn't uh know anything about until I saw it pop up on Board Game Arena.
- Cascadia: Alpine Lakes. This should be delivering very very soon.
- This is a standalone version of Cascadia, where not only are you building out, you're now also building up.
- I really enjoyed the 3D aspect of it. But then you still have that kind of Cascadia goodness.
- This is Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trick-taking game.
- This is probably truly my favorite.
- It's a cooperative trick-taking game uh that is set in the Lord of the Rings story.
- In this one there's three storylines going.
- simple polyomino game.
- cozy game for the moment for us.
- It messes with my head in a good way that I really like where it's still super super simple, super easy.
- Trismegistus second edition, baby.
- This game is really, really heavy in general. Like it's just It's one of their heavier games.
- your head will be thumping after this one.
- And now it's all reinforcing stuff. So I can I'm like oh, I know how this works. This is all this is all intuitive and makes sense.
- I think it's awesome. Like I'm so glad this was like I did never expect them to do a redo of this.
- So it's our favorite of the year so far.
- Our July is jam-packed. It's ridiculous. Absolutely jam-packed with playthroughs many of which are going to be games that are releasing at Gen Con.
- Get your favorite picks in the comments below for what you've enjoyed this year so far.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video bQde_dF-c04
Top Games List at 20:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66169 · mention_pk 160825
Click to watch at 20:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique auction mechanism with asymmetric powers
- Deep engine-building and strategic diversity
- Expansions add more asymmetric options
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- asymmetric faction bidding with action upgrades and engine-building
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- auction/bidding — Asymmetric factions bid on actions and upgrade economies.
- Set collection/generalization vs. specialization — Balancing different strategic goals for scoring.
- Worker-placement+engine-building — Build a tableau of countries with resources and outputs; upgrades improve actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Kingdom Crossing is like Animal Crossing.
- It's a light to mid Euro game with very nice mechanism which is based on the seven bridges of Kernixburg problem.
- The engine building is very satisfying.
- There are a lot of timing puzzles here. You have to manage your money.
- Beaver worker… it's cute.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video bRIM3fFBL0o
kovray Review
video_pk 37454 · mention_pk 165066
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
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 secret society with the most power claims complete dominance over the world.
- There’s eight factions.
- You can put on a mask and then the reptile people are amongst us.
- If you want world dominance, maybe this game is for you.
- The more you play it, the better you get.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video WrCy7_T7dnY
Meeple University Review
video_pk 5967 · mention_pk 166698
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Imagine every conspiracy theory you've ever heard. flatearthers, reptilians, vampires, influencers, aliens, all meeting secretly to decide the fate and division of the Earth.
- these societies do their horse trading in secret and buy auction. It's just like eBay, but instead of beating for collectibles, it's the Netherlands and the United Kingdom who are up for grabs
- In this country, you got to make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, you get the victory points.
- Is that a bluff? Is that a five? Or is it just a sad little zero card waiting to get you to overbe too much?
- And this is how the earth comes to its end, one hashtag at a time.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Gv1M82OEtO4
Meeple University Discussion
video_pk 2658 · mention_pk 166697
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- In secret societies, each player takes on the role of a nefarious organization, wheeling and dealing to gain secret control over the world.
- Seven rounds of auctions and bidding to see who gets to buy control of the different countries.
- The bidding phase in particular is going to get a lot more complicated once players start unlocking upgrades.
- The core of secret societies is how the auctions change once players start building projects.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–8 of 8