Game Info
Year
2026
Players
1-4
Age
14+
Playtime
75 min
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
Players restore barren African land by placing woodland wetland savanna desert and river habitat tiles to build ecosystems filled with herbivores predators and primates
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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 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video XsAluRFcdCw
slickerdrips Playthrough at 0:01 sentiment: positive
video_pk 106478 · mention_pk 307794
Click to watch at 0:01 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Solo mode available with adjustable difficulty bot.
- Satisfying theme of reintroducing wildlife and restoring habitats.
- Strategic depth in tile placement and action selection.
- Engaging end-game scoring opportunities.
- Visually appealing with miniature components implied.
Cons
- The reviewer mentions a potential for focusing too much on one aspect ('focusing on one thing too much').
- Potential for oil spill tiles to negatively impact score if not covered.
Thematic elements
- Reintroducing wildlife and restoring habitats in a post-human-crisis world.
- A world that has gone more wrong due to humans depleting resources, forcing a reintroduction of nature and wildlife.
Comparison games
- Clans of Caledonia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose a segment on a central board to place an action selection token, which determines the primary action they can take.
- Difficulty scaling — The solo mode has a bot with difficulty settings from one to eight.
- End game scoring — Various cards and conditions award points at the end of the game, such as for completed habitats, specific species arrangements, and specialist cards.
- Player Board — Each player has a personal board where they place habitat tiles and species.
- Set Collection — Players aim to collect species of certain types, achieve specific habitat configurations, and fulfill end-game scoring cards.
- Tile Placement — Players place habitat tiles onto their player board to create and expand different terrains like savanna, desert, woodland, and wetland.
- Variable player powers — Specialist cards and the 'activist' ability provide unique advantages or scoring opportunities.
- Worker Placement — Placing action selection tokens in segments of the central board to take actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The story of the game is that the world has gone more wrong.
- We are naturalists, kind of nudging the land back to life.
- So, the river is always about bonuses for playing herbivores of a particular habitat type.
- I have got an eight. I did that in one go. Giraffe. It's going to change things. I've just gotten a 12.
- Puts them on 99 to my 129, so a pretty decisive victory there.
- But, if you have more VP than the poachers, you've built a thriving ecosystem strong enough to save the animals from extinction.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Av4qXI7qdaM
Rahdo Runs Through Review at 0:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 106476 · mention_pk 307793
Click to watch at 0:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
overwhelmingly positive
Pros
- Brilliant multi-use Mancala mechanism that is well-integrated.
- The theme of environmental revitalization is heroic and positive.
- Excellent tile-laying and strategic depth.
- High variety from two-sided objective cards and setup options leads to great replayability.
- Satisfyingly crunchy gameplay with significant strategic depth.
- Offers multiple game variants (Express Mode, advanced drafting) catering to different player preferences.
- Each turn offers interesting and challenging decisions.
- The game is deep and rich, requiring players to juggle many elements.
- The game reminds players of the power and elegance of Mancala mechanics.
- Combination of theme, mechanism, and gameplay is phenomenal.
Cons
- Not a gateway game; it's a deep, crunchy midweight game.
- Can be complex for new players due to the number of elements to manage.
Thematic elements
- Environmentalists revitalizing a blighted landscape.
- A small, remote region of Africa blighted by overexploitation.
Comparison games
- Ticket to Ride
- Trajan
- Keyflower
- Five Tribes
- Istanbul
- Arc Nova
- Terraforming Mars
- On the Underground
- Dungeon Crawler Carl Unstoppable
- Diablas
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose from a menu of actions available on the board spaces they activate, in addition to other free actions.
- automated opponent — The game includes an automated player (poachers) that acts as an opponent in solo or two-player games.
- Engine Building — Players build up their capabilities by acquiring specialists and expanding their terrain to support more complex actions and scoring.
- Mancala — The game uses a Mancala mechanism where players activate spaces on a board, pick up tokens, and distribute them clockwise, influencing subsequent actions and creating opportunities for opponents.
- Objective Fulfillment — Players work towards public and private objectives that grant points or bonuses.
- Set Collection — Players aim to collect sets of terrain types or fulfill conditions for objectives.
- tile laying — Players place terrain tiles onto the board to expand their landscape.
- Variable player powers — Players can acquire specialist cards that provide ongoing or one-time abilities.
- Worker Placement — Players choose actions by placing their marker on specific zones of the board (the 'wedges' or 'rondell').
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Monalas are simply brilliant.
- Wildscape reminds the world how amazing Monalas are.
- This game is so deep and so rich and you as a player have to juggle so much and then the piesta resistance you have to do so much in so little time on average.
- It is absolutely phenomenal.
- More of that, less games just about killing each other or stealing from each other and more games about us saving the freaking planet.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ySLFXFTtDcU
Board Gaming Ramblings Review at 0:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 106031 · mention_pk 305669
Click to watch at 0:06 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Mechanisms are liked.
- Lots of crunchy choices.
- Ability to think a couple of turns ahead.
- Player interaction is good.
- Spatial puzzle aspect is done well.
- Adorable little dice for tracking power are helpful.
- A lot to like in the game.
Cons
- Can be quite long.
- Iconography can be challenging initially, requiring rulebook checks.
Thematic elements
- Re-introducing nature and fauna to an area where it has disappeared.
- An alternative world where nature is gone, with a mountain in the middle.
Comparison games
- Trajan
- Ostia
- Ark Nova
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — The game revolves around choosing actions, which can be done by selecting an area around a central board.
- Area Majority — Triggered by bird scoring phases, where players compete for majorities to gain energy or points.
- Mancala — A shared Mancala mechanism is used where energy tokens are distributed, changing the values of action spaces.
- Set Collection — Players collect fauna cards (primates, predators) and herbivores/snakes placed on their board for scoring.
- Tile Placement — Players place tiles to grow new areas and create space for herbivores and other fauna.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- And that is the reason I would say that is the reason that makes this game good.
- I think what really saves this game are those adorable little dice.
- It's a little long. That's my basically my only complaint.
- I am not getting this game. I'm not understanding how to play well, but I am enjoying most of that except for when I feel like I'm doing nothing.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video EX6ay7pMw5Y
Board Gaming Ramblings Unboxing at 18:05 sentiment: other
video_pk 105366 · mention_pk 303639
Click to watch at 18:05 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Hopeful
Pros
- Designer is known for Keyflower and Underground
- Box art features many animals
Cons
- Previous ecosystem games haven't captured interest
Thematic elements
- Animals and ecosystems
Comparison games
- Keyflower
- Underground
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Ecosystem Building — The game involves creating or managing an ecosystem.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm scared to play this game.
- It sounds horrible because you can like produce stuff, and it nobody will buy it.
- Played for 2 and 1/2 hours and got zero points.
- It's really nice that All Play got a hold of it and managed to make it a version of the game that was like $39.
- I love the box art.
- It works surprisingly well.
- It's a lot of fun.
- It is one of the better word games I've played in a while.
- This is kind of the prequel to Phoenix New Horizon.
- we have been excited for because we really like First Contact New Horizon
- I also love the box cover.
- It is a game about animals.
- This is a deck builder game where you are a robot.
- I have played it once. I'm excited to play it again.
- It's a cyberpunk game.
- This is a cooperative narrative game.
- This game takes interactive storytelling to the next level where your decisions will shape a branching narrative.
- This is the cooperative version of Unmatched.
- I really like Unmatched and I'm excited to play this one.
- I'm excited and a bit unsure to see how I would like the cooperative game because cooperative games aren't usually for me.
- Greenville.
- Actually, you want to live here it says.
- This is a town developing sandbox game with a unique time action system.
- I backed it.
- I have heard that it has a very interesting art.
- I am excited for this. I like a city building game and it sounds like you kind of have to cooperate-ish to build a city but then you have to be the best at it which is great.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video pSctuPnSpAY
Board Gaming Ramblings Top List at 3:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 103727 · mention_pk 299548
Click to watch at 3:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique Mancala-style energy mechanic
- Strategic energy management required
- Engaging ecological theme
- Plenty of options and reasons to choose specific spots
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Introducing various species into an ecosystem
- A reforested area
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — It is a action selection game with a Mancala style energy revolvement.
- Engine Building — Trying to build up your income and trying to do the It's really fun resource management puzzle all to do the best and score points.
- Mancala — Mancala style energy revolvement. Like you have a close economy of how much energy you can use for actions and when I use energy for an action or I've chosen this action spot then that energy is going to move around.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's been a lot of good games we played this month. I could make like a top 10 team.
- The most important thing other than having fun is winning. You know, winning is like it's not really, but it's a thing.
- We're in it to win it.
- Because we cry a lot while playing this game and with our friends.
- It is really group dependent.
- I really like spatial puzzles, but I like spatial puzzles which doesn't just feel like randomness.
- It's just boring.
- It is interesting when you get let down with games you already played because you are sometimes you're very hyped about a new game, but then you're like you have these feelings and experiences of the game and it kind of feels different.
- It has a few things in it that I shouldn't like that cooperate cooperation.
- This is a word game and I think it worked very very well because it is a language independent.
- It was easier than I thought it would be and also more fun.
- Drillers just gave me that oh, I want to go again feeling and it's been some time since I played a deck builder that gave me like this amount of joy.
- It's really fun uh resource management puzzle all to do the best and score points which I have been kind of good at but then you are getting more and more efficient and winning.
- I liked the expansion but I didn't like the expansion.
- It has like like cog system that revolves like
- It's this and of course it's it's cool with the gimmick of it's actually moving around in the adding to the board.
- It is a action selection game with a Mancala style energy revolvement.
- It is really nice, especially the four-player version has so much interaction in like a positive and if you don't like interaction in the four-player game there is quite a lot of it, but not not negative take that the like great positive I'm saying positive interaction.
- It's been a blast to play it again.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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