I believe that the Murmansk to Lieksa route is where you need 4 extra cards to count for one train length of the 9 lengths. So you could use 7 black train cards, but then would need another 8 to claim the final two spots! Very costly.

Exactly. Any *four* cards can stand in for one on the 9-length route. Three cards makes it too easy!

You can play any 3 cards instead of a wild card for the ferry.

Man, I love these video reviews. They took a bit to get used to after years of your written reviews, but now I enjoy them much more.

Took me a while to get used to the 'Nordic' rule that locomotives can only be used on ferry and tunnel routes and not as wild cards on 'normal' routes. Instead there is the three card wild rule.

Plus there is only 40 train pieces per player according to the rules. We found the plastic sets had five extra of each colour.

The figure on the box is one of the Sami people. They are known for reindeer herding and live in northern Scandinavia.
Not Santa Claus

Thanks for the review. For the time being, it has made me decide against buying Nordic Countries. It seems redundant to me since I already own Switzerland.



Indeed. Still, I doubt anyone would find it offensive - after all, he did admit during the review that he doesn't know much about Scandinavian geography, so who would expect him to know about the Sami? Personally I just thought it was pretty funny

So, are you guys saying that there's no way that Santa Claus could be Sami?

That's just *#&ist!

Nice review. While I agree that written reviews are much, much better for an in-depth, thoughtful analysis to help one decide on a purchase, I have nothing at all against video reviews to give a more visceral, first-hand initial look at the game, the game play and the components. You know, just to see if I am even interested.

I already own it and like it, and I will be picking up a couple copies for Christmas gifts soon. The theme is decidedly more wintry, ergo "Christmas-y", and could do well as a perennial, seasonal favorite.


Game on!

They are just two different medias, and both have advantages and disadvantages.
Sometimes, you can just do much more visually. A quick example can easily substitute a lengthy explanation. Also, I think Tom and his kids are fun to watch. And I think he still manages to be very informative.

As informative as a well written review? Maybe not - but some well written reviews don't have much information either. They might be just funny and lighthearted as a youtube video.

Some people prefer reading, some people prefer lots of information, some people just want to have a general idea of the game, some people like to watch a short and humorous video of the game they want. And some people, like me, might want to have access to all those options.

I noticed another possible error here (not to pick on Tom too much - I really enjoy his video reviews and podcast!).

In addition to the 4-1 substitution that's allowed on the Murmansk route (instead of 3-1, which is for ferry wild spaces), it seems that Tom is making the case that the substituting cards have to be color sets. But the rules seem to say that they can be any random cards. From the rules:

(emphasis mine)

For instance, if you only have 7 orange cards (lacking 2 oranges) for the Murmansk Lieksa route - you don't need 2 color sets of 4 to finish; but rather 8 cards of any combination of colors.

Same with ferry wild spaces:



So it doesn't say any three matching cards, but any three - they do not have to be a set of the same color.

Let me know if you are aware of any difference to this from the rules.

Thanks for the video, Tom!

This is the only game, to my knowledge, that features my hometown: Kiruna!

When it was released here in Sweden I nearly bought it. The main concern was the fact that Lautapelit was co-publisher (they are basically the largest Scandinavian publisher of the lighter German games and their translations, customer service and such are, well, horrible at best).

Maybe I need to give this title another shot.

Oh, and by the way, the man on the cover is supposed to be a Sami - the native people of northern Scandinavia. Not Santa. The wild and strange beard might be the cause of this confusion.