Dog Park + New Tricks Expansion - Review For Two

welcome to allies or enemies I'm Jess and I am Sean and today we are talking about dog park and we're going to be talking about both the base game and its expansion new tricks in full disclosure both games were provided to us by the publisher for review and even Fuller disclosure I love dogs I love dogs so much the games were designed by lah and Jack Hazel and it is all about getting different types of dogs and taking them for walks giving them treats and toys along the way so before we get too into it let's take a look at how it [Music] plays each round starts with three available dogs which everyone will take turns bidding on If you bid the most points you get that dog and spend your bid if not you take another dog but you only need to spend one point after two rounds of bidding you select which of the dogs in your kennel you'll walk and you pay resources to put them on a lead and you head off to the park during the walking phase players take turns moving one to four spaces along the path and taking the bonuses they land on including a finishing bonus which is better the earlier you leave the park then you do it all again after four rounds of bidding choosing and walking you gain points for breed types you have a majority in any endgame bonuses on your dogs leftover resources and points from an objective card you chose at the start of the game and then the greatest dog walker is named and so dog park is interesting in that it is kind of a couple different games smooshed together it feels like so you've got these very different separate phases first you've got the bidding on dog phase and then you've got the walking phase and so let's first of all just talk about that bidding phase and I think that there's a few interesting things about it it's because it's it's little secret bidding where you've got that dial which feels a bit like um they use a similar thing in the furnace expansion as well but you've got that dial for how you bid but I think the more interesting thing is what you're bidding is your points so every time you spend a bit extra on a dog you're losing points and this is one of those games where you win by having the most points yeah and it makes it an interesting decision of when you're going to spend your points to get the different value dogs cuz the different breeds are worth different like points that the end of the game so do you spend points now to try and get majority of those kind of breeds so you get more points later and it can be tough especially at the beginning you don't have a lot of points to spend so it is you don't really want to jump into continually spending all the points you have just for the later reward yeah and I think it could really be a strategy as well just just to always spend one you always have to spend at least one point unless you have no points and then you just get whatever the dog is no one else wants but generally you're always GNA spend at least one point every turn so spending that extra two or three in a game where you get like 50 60 points maybe if you're spending two points every turn that's really going to add add up and bite you so it's it is interesting because that math you can't even do that math one to one too because you're not sure like oh if I get that breed if I get whatever that top breed is and I get eight points versus that one point at the bottom that's really worth it but did I have to spend eight points on the way and then the other part of it is the walks and the walks works a lot like kind of a mini Parks or teido where you're just moving forward and picking up the stuff and that plays quite a bit different too and what what did you think about that part yeah I like that part because you can always the decisions of what resources you want to gather along the way will be influenced by which dogs you have available because you're going to have to spend the resources to take them on a walk and also you get to see what the next dogs are too so I think that really influences your decision of oh I'm going to really need a lot of balls my dogs love having balls and so I need to make sure to stop on that but you are you do want to finish quickly too because you get that point bonus if you're out of the park first and you lose a point if you're out of the park last so it's balancing again points and in this case resources yeah I do like the the bit about the because you do you need the stuff for the dog so I do like that do you got to look ahead and be planning ahead for that next turn but you don't know what dogs you're going to get for the next turn because then you're going to have to do that bidding so that also influences that that you're like I got all these sticks but I don't have a none of my dogs like sticks what dogs don't like sticks it's crazy but none of my dogs these are squeaky toy only these are fancy dogs who only want squeaky toys um and yeah that that is it's simple like all of the parts of this game I think are pretty simple but they're tied together enough that there's like that that little bit that makes it a little bit more interesting yeah and I think it reminds me also of wingspan as well because the dogs have different powers and so sometimes the powers are when they're going on a walk sometimes it's endgame bonuses as well and so not only are you deciding when you're getting them about what breed they are but also what their power is and if you can afford it with the resources so I think it combines these familiar mechanics that we've seen in other Gateway Games just in a in a really nice way yeah it does feel a little bit like if furnace and Wings span and Parks all had kind of a baby it was like yeah a dog oh if only there was a word for dog babies but while it is the the poppy of those three games uh I would say that it is a little bit lighter than any of those it doesn't quite go as into depth in any of these mechanics as as each of those does but it it touches on all of the different it's like a little smorgus Board of of mechanics um but let's talk about the uh the components as well because I think the components are are definitely a highlight here yeah because this is very much going to appeal to people who really like dogs and there is a lot of dog art you know all of the cards are different cards they're all like handrawn and they all look really good as well and I think the meatles cuz your your little meeple even though it's bigger than a meeple is walking a dog and you have a little dog one that's screen printed too which is nice yeah I I think they they did a really good job really across the board and even the little things like the um like the the the tray that you put all of your resources in it's shaped like a bone and that's really nice and it's got that thing like parks where they got two different trays that you've got your stuff in so they can be in two places on the table I think that's a great touch the more game should do even the Box insert I think works well so I think just overall there's not really any problems with any of the the components and that dog artist especially really shines and I will gun for the dogs that are especially cute if it's big and fluffy I'm going to go for that dog I would rather have a bunch of big fluffy dogs than win the game I think but let's look at player count I've only played this at two players you've played it solo as well and at two players there is a bot player that you add in but it's really straightforward so for the first bidding phase they're always going to go for the dog that's worth the highest value and I think that is NE necessary to have competition for those dogs and so you can still try and bid for it but you roll a dice for what their value is going to be so you could risk it of bidding low and hope that you still outbid them but it might not work out in your favor I think that does a good job of doing what it's supposed to do yeah and it's I like that if you fail in the bid you only spend one on getting so you don't have to spend what you bid if you don't win the bid but it it is good that it always goes for that highest dog and a thing that we didn't talk about too is I like that the dogs don't have points on them those points shift each time depending on just the breed so the dogs aren't inherently worth more than other dogs that changes all the time but yeah I think I think that works really well and it's a fun it's almost more fun I think like rolling the dice than just trying to math out like oh okay she can only spend three so if I spend four I'm definitely going to get it but with the bot you never know they're a real they're real wild card and then for the walk as well they just um you roll the dice as well and they just move that amount so they can really rush you or if you're rolling a lot of ones you can just gather all sorts of resources yeah I think it does a good job of simulating a third player but with very little upkeep and it doesn't compete with you for final scores but it does compete for the breed majorities which is really important at two- player it just wouldn't be as exciting if you won like half of the breed majorities but in terms of three or four player games I think one of the nice things is I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of extra Play Time added because even though there is going to be more players playing all of the decisions are really quick the bidding is really quick the where you're going is really quick as well for three players I it's going to be the same amount of dogs that you have access to but you're using a real like human player instead of a bot and at four players you get a fourth dog uh available to to bid on so maybe a little bit more choice in that market for which dog you're bidding for but there also going to be more competition for those breed majorities yeah and we haven't played with three or four so all of this is just we're just imagining but yeah I agree it's going to play just as fast or pretty much just as fast and I I would be interested because I feel like it's going to be probably a slightly more interesting game at three or four players there is also a solo mode that is kind of a best score mode but it's definitely a best score plus mode so in this case you've got the auto Walker much like two players but now you've got two of them so they're both going to be going for the best dogs they're both going to be bidding against you they're both going to be walking with you along the path but they don't score any points you also have a card that you choose a solo challenge card and you can pick four different levels of that and then you're just you're trying to get Stars through both completing the goals on your card and however many points you get at the end of the game and I I think it works fairly well like for a best point mode it has very little upkeep which is nice but it does add a little bit extra than your average just play by yourself and get the points so you mentioned goal cards and that leads us into replayability because it reminds me of the achievement cards that you get given in a regular game at the start of each game you get dealt two of them and that will influence a little bit of what direction you're you might go towards other things that will change up the feel of each game too is the the breed values are going to be randomly determined each game and there are also these forecast cards that come out and so that might give you bonuses for having different breeds or just little things that each season or Not Season I guess it's just like each phase will affect it a little bit differently and those forecast cards really can impact your decision- making too because those are pretty big bonuses sometimes and that can be worth even getting the like lower ranked dogs just to get those big Point bonuses but I think that's most of what we wanted to talk about the base game so let's jump into the expansion and the expansion adds quite a few things so the expansion is called New Tricks and I think it's just come out and it adds first of all a fifth player so it adds all the stuff that you need for a fifth player including I think a really nice kind of beige colored person none of beige in games uh so it adds the beige person and their dial and everything that you need as well as another slot on the board so now you're going to be bidding on five cards as well as some extra kind of double layered bits for the walk for the path um and then also for the path it adds these cool little kind of overlay things so it's got another set of cards cuz there's cards I don't know if we talked about this but there's cards that you put out that change what's on the path each time so they have little bonuses on a few of the spaces and one of the spaces usually will lose its powers but with this one it adds these kind of super bonuses that allow you to do some like interesting different stuff and trade stuff to get stuff and get points and it's it just adds a little bit more I think to to the path and as the name suggests it adds tricks and so how the tricks work are each game there's going to be different tricks that get randomly distributed to the different breeds and so each round you can have your trainer go on one dog and that dog is going to learn a trick and depending on whether they're at home or whether they're on a walk they can do the trick action it always well it often costs a resource to do it but then even after that round that dog has learned the trick they don't lose it you know that's how it works with dogs meaning you can keep using those tricks and it can combo in some nice ways but I would say for the trick element it's another thing to consider so if you have only played like a handful of games I don't think having like that addition is going to it might feel a little overwhelming I think it would be more if you've had like tons of games under your belt you're really familiar with like a lot of the the dogs and the things that they do that the new tricks and that extra thing that you're considering is worthwhile yeah it's still it's still like a very light game but it it's interesting and I think partly because it's just physically far because it goes on top of the board and it feel it feels like a little far away from you but it is just that one more thing and because it's kind of another similar thing like your dogs have powers and then you've got the location power you just have a lot of things to remember about and it feels like the easiest thing to forget but yeah I agree I think if you played a lot you're going to you got that other stuff already internalized you're going to look at those a bit more it also has dual breed dogs and it's got just a whole bunch of new dogs and I really like these new dogs so it's got some that are rescue dogs which is awesome and a lot of those work specifically with the tricks and the new trick Powers but it also has a bunch and their names as well underneath like they're um they all have this little like flavor text thing underneath their names but it's their dual breed so I really appreciate that and they're like extra cute CU they're kind of muts so I I like that part of it a lot yeah absolutely and we're both gone for those ones because they count for both breed categor so you're getting basically two dogs in one and with the tricks too if that dog learns a trick they have learned the trick for both types of breeds as well so I don't think this is a you need it right off the top expansion but I do you think if you are very familiar with it or if you just like really love dogs and are really love the game the rainbow breed dogs do add a lot to it and I also just noticed while you were talking looking in the viewfinder that this makes a like perfect little picture that goes between both boxes so there is that as well for the new tricks but overall who do you think this game is for just talking about like the base game without the expansion I think it's definitely a Gateway game like we mentioned it draws from a lot of Gateway game mechanics and it's still that Gateway level so it is relatively light which is nice in terms of an easy entry but it doesn't have like a huge amount of like strategic depth it is that that Gateway weight for bringing new players in but it's also for dog lovers because it's all about these adorable dogs and it does a really good job of putting you in a in the dog world you want to get all the dogs and you want to walk all these dogs yeah it is a gateway game and I think it does a good job at that I think it does a good job of taking some cool mechanics smooshing them down and kind of squeezing the essence out of those mechanics and especially the uh the bidding I think is really interesting that you're spending your points on the bidding I I think that works really well and that theme is just it's going to bring a lot of different people in I love dogs I love seeing the dogs I think I think the dogs really helps how much I enjoy this game and Gateway game doesn't necessarily mean it's only for new players too because we do enjoy just playing kind of a lighter game sometimes as well but it just know that this isn't going to have those big weighty decisions in it this isn't going to be that kind of game yeah and like you say we do like playing those games because it turns are really quick it's nice to have these quick turns that you're still making interesting decisions with a really great theme and that is it that is dog park and dog park New Tricks thank you so much for watching please let us know in the comments if you played dog park or what your favorite dog themed game is or what your favorite dog is and as usual please like subscribe and hopefully we'll see you next time for another game [Music]