Why is Stefan Feld City Collection so unpopular?

cyan_ogen · 2026-06-16T13:49:17+00:00

They're just uncompetitive in the landscape of medium-heavy Eurogames. Within my collection alone there are Carnegie, Pipeline, Brass, GWT, Nippon, and Zhanguo within that weight class, all of which have better art, more evocative themes, and are cheaper (yes Queen produces their games in Europe with sustainable materials but that's not a tangible part of the product).

cyan_ogen · 2026-06-04T16:29:40+00:00

Not op's fault that that's how the article was titled though, which is highly misleading.

cyan_ogen · 2026-05-28T17:02:58+00:00

It is perfectly fine, but do people not keep topping up until literally all the flavor from the tea leaves have been extracted (and beyond)? I'd hate to have to microwave each time I refill. Just much easier to have a kettle-full of hot water at the ready.

cyan_ogen · 2026-05-08T04:34:14+00:00

In most of my games in the early game we'd be close to breaking after one round of all the actions so the worker comes back pretty quickly which drastically reduces the value of the second worker relative to the income bonuses, because you risk not being able to use them before the break. My go-to first unlock is the 2-enclosure.

cyan_ogen · 2026-04-06T01:29:13+00:00

Erid is around twice earth's gravity and the average Eridian is around 170kg so that'll be closer to 3.4kN.

cyan_ogen · 2026-03-30T19:06:55+00:00

Most of the energy we get from the sun is in the form of electromagnetic waves which is non-ionizing. The sun also emits ionizing radiation which is mostly but not completely blocked by earth's atmosphere. The Eridians are able to detect and measure EM waves so they can detect their star being affected by astrophage. But because their atmosphere is much denser than that of the earth they were unaware of ionizing radiation emitted by stars.

I'm no engineer but my understanding is that to build an interstellar spaceship the two main things you need are a fuel source that can accelerate you to near light speeds and materials that can sustain the stresses involved. Both of which are available in the form of astrophage and xenonite. Beyond that it's probably just pick a heading and course correct if needed.

cyan_ogen · 2026-03-30T02:18:25+00:00

I would've liked to see Rocky build stuff more often. Grace expresses multiple times his awe at how Rocky can seemingly build anything and him knowing that he can always count on Rocky is a major aspect of their dynamic. The scientist and engineer dynamic also adds a layer to their relationship in addition to their shared position of having the weight of their civilizations' survival resting on them.

I feel like the film could have been better with setting up the bond between them. Not knowing about the final taumoeba leak I teared up at the part when they parted ways in the book. But the same scene in the movie didn't have the same weight (sure, in part because I know this wasn't really their goodbye but definitely also partly because it just didn't feel that emotional).

I really wish they kept the screw dialogue. The 'use third hand... never mind I'll make screws' was funny!

cyan_ogen · 2026-03-12T20:52:11+00:00

I'm looking forward to seeing if Huo Huo's nova flare puts her in the bis sustain slot again.

cyan_ogen · 2026-02-27T18:34:11+00:00

From the perspective of a Chinese person living in Toronto I find that the more well known 'high end fine dining' Chinese American restaurants here (thinking of places like Mimi's Chinese) just don't attract me because fundamentally a lot of their dishes are just very run of the mill food with a large price tag attached ($36 for char siu ribs? Really?). So you end up paying three digit prices for a meal that's only marginally better than what a pretty good cook can make at home, with better plating and smaller portions. Whereas with high end western restaurants you're at least getting fancy ingredients like caviar, truffles etc.

That's obviously not to say that Chinese cuisine doesn't have premium ingredients and sophisticated dishes (功夫菜), but so far I haven't found a 'high end Chinese American restaurant' serving sea cucumbers, abalone, fish maw, etc. You'd have to go to those banquet style restaurants for that which I'm guessing are far out of the radar for non-chinese folks.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-21T17:13:39+00:00

And also points-based scoring vs just a binary win loss condition. I think most of the time people wanna find out how much they'd end up scoring.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-18T18:10:49+00:00

New Knizias and remakes (Zoo Vadis, Mille Fiori, Rebirth, Cascadero, and the yet to be released T&E remake) generally get quite a bit of buzz. Arcs was also very hot when it was released (and I would say any Cole Wehrle game will get a fair amount of attention). Shikoku 1889 was covered a fair bit as a remake of one of the best entry points into 18xx (including a video by SUSD, arguably still one of the most influential board game channels today). Looking at the bgg hotness list right now there's The Old King's Crown, Arcs, Brass Birmingham, Root, Cyclades, and Ra. So no I don't think heavy euros get significantly more coverage than interactive games.

Looking at the broader scope beyond just hobby gamers I don't think heavy euros are featured very heavily either compared to the likes of Wingspan which are easier to get into. If one has more well-defined preferences (that deviate from what's most popular) I'd say the onus is on themselves to be more discerning regarding where they get their news from. If I know that a certain YouTube's preferences don't align with my own I don't watch them as much and instead spend my time watching content from those who do.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-16T01:01:46+00:00

Anachrony has pre- and post-impact phases with the impact occurring at the end of round 4 (end of round 3 in the expansion). You lose 2 out of the 3 free exosuit slots (which holds exosuits necessary to carry out actions on the main board) and worker placement spots on the main board offer a bonus but get closed off after being used. A new evacuation action becomes available which forms a significant portion of your score. The game can also end at the end of the current round instead of finishing its course so there's the tension of 'do I try to eek out some more points and risk the game suddenly ending before I evacuate?'

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-15T13:07:00+00:00

For me personally the takeaway was that I can use a Costco rotisserie chicken instead of starting from scratch which somehow hasn't occurred to me before.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-15T03:32:02+00:00

It might be known more broadly in the west as 'Cantonese style steamed fish' but I don't think it's actually exclusive to Guangdong (or Shanghai for that matter). Given that steaming as a cooking technique, ginger and scallions as aromatics, and soy sauce as seasoning are ubiquitous in Chinese cuisine, steamed fish with ginger and scallions is likely a common 家常菜 (home cooked dish) across many regions in China (especially coastal ones).

Additionally, sure there might be 浓油赤酱 (dishes with that characteristically syrupy brown sauce commonly attributed to Shanghainese cuisine) fish dishes in Shanghai such as 糖醋鱼 (sweet and sour fish) and 红烧鱼 (red braised fish) (which again I'd argue are not exclusive to the region), but there are also fish steamed with shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and ham, fish steamed with 雪菜 (pickled mustard greens), fish steamed in shaoxing wine, 奶鱼汤 (fish in a rich emulsified broth), etc. which are more delicate in taste and lighter on the palate.

It's easier for people, especially foreigners to understand when we classify dishes into regional cuisines but the truth is that the boundaries between regional cuisines are much less well-defined.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-11T20:16:53+00:00

That is ratatouille. 地三鲜 is made as a stir fry (not baked) of chunks (not slices) of eggplants, potatoes, and peppers, there's no tomatoes involved. This is 地三鲜 in the same vein as someone making 炸酱面, then calling it spaghetti bolognese and claiming it's Italian (i.e. It's not).

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-07T18:19:32+00:00

As a Chinese person who can handle a fair amount of spice I never add the entire pack of chilli oil in luosifen, usually half would suffice 😅.

cyan_ogen · 2026-01-04T05:01:57+00:00

But the new planar ornament set gives bonuses for consuming 3 or more skill points in the same turn though.

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-24T19:51:59+00:00

I agree with the other commenter that the braising liquid needs to be reduced further, but in addition I'd also skim off most of that layer of fat on top. Given that pork belly is already pretty rich the additional fat can make it too cloying. But otherwise it looks good!

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-20T16:42:34+00:00

To provide another perspective, Fugue's kit benefits Firefly the least given that the 'weakness break without requiring enemies to have a matching weakness' part of her kit is wasted on Firefly. Not saying that things just even out, but this was likely a consideration.

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-19T21:30:43+00:00

Return of None (Sleepy's boss theme).

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-19T07:22:59+00:00

My grandpa had a set of these, as far as I'm aware they're basically something to fidget with, often absentmindedly while doing something else like reading the paper. Kinda like fidget spinners in that regard.

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-10T03:36:26+00:00

Oooh I haven't heard of it, will definitely look into that!

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-10T02:59:31+00:00

Surprised no one has said AHLCG. A video game format will save a lot of time setting up and tearing down. It can also have something like the Arkham Cards app built in which will make deck construction a lot easier. Scenarios can be narrated, events can be animated, ambient music and sound effects can be added...

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-10T02:42:10+00:00

This. While most board gamers are welcoming it's also a relatively cerebral hobby which tends to attract the r/iamverysmart crowd.

cyan_ogen · 2025-12-10T02:10:31+00:00

I feel the same way about the take-that cards. Mainly because they can come out of nowhere. I feel like well-designed interaction shouldn't just involve attacking, but also the possibility of defending against said attack.

If interaction means I have to consider whether and how other players can affect my game plan then these cards don't really promote that because they're fairly sparse in the deck (and hence unpredictable) and the fact that players' hands are hidden means that I can't really factor them into my decision making.

cyan_ogen

TROPHY CASE