Vantage
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Vantage is a name shared across several distinct products, most notably a massive exploration board game by Stonemaier Games, a finished bourbon from Barrell Craft Spirits, and the Aston Martin V8 sports car. The board game is highly polarizing; while many praise its unprecedented scale, human-created art, and 'chill' exploration, others find its mechanics shallow, likening it more to a 'choose your own adventure' book than a traditional game. In the spirits category, Vantage bourbon is well-regarded for its unique fruity and spicy profile. The Aston Martin Vantage is admired for its aesthetics but criticized by some for a lack of steering feedback.
Pros
- Board game features over 1,000 cards and 800 locations with high-quality human art
- Minimal setup and teardown for a game of its scale
- Bourbon offers a unique, fruity, and spicy profile using Mizunara and French oak finishes
- Board game provides a unique, story-heavy co-op experience with dice mitigation and press-your-luck elements
- The Aston Martin Vantage is widely considered a beautiful vehicle
Cons
- Board game mechanics can feel shallow or repetitive to players seeking deep strategy
- Missions in the board game can feel overly long if players struggle to find specific locations
- The Aston Martin Vantage is reported to have 'zero feel' through the steering wheel and lacks emotional engagement for some drivers
- Board game excitement may diminish after the initial novelty of exploration wears off
Caveats
- Users strongly advise against storing the board game box vertically
- The bourbon is a younger, higher-proof blend that lacks the heavy oak profile of aged expressions
- The board game's 'casual' nature may conflict with its complex and 'weird' ruleset for some
Best for
- Board gamers who enjoy narrative-driven exploration and 'chill' gameplay
- Bourbon enthusiasts looking for unique finishes like Mizunara
- Car collectors who prioritize aesthetic beauty
Avoid if
- You prefer mechanically-heavy board games over story-driven card drawing
- You are a driver who prioritizes steering feedback and 'raw' automotive emotion
- You prefer traditional, oak-forward aged bourbons
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 122-month half-life. The evidence spans multiple product categories (board games, spirits, and automotive) with a median source age of approximately 377 days.
Sentiment
21 positive (53%) · 11 mixed (28%) · 8 negative (20%)
Trust + time weighted score: +32% · raw score 33%
What redditors said (10 of 40)
I like Vantage, but it's way too casual and way to complicated and weird for how casual it is to make a big impact imho.
this game took everything that I enjoy about those games and threw it in the bin.
Vantage ... it's not for me. I would love a game like this that is designed more mechanically-minded, and this one does have better mechanics than many others, but it's still too, "draw a card, read a story, roll a die" for me. That said, I do think it's going to be, at the very least, a huge cult hit for years to come.
I just don’t know. I have now played this nine times, with all the different characters at least once, and I just don’t know. ... while there are individual moments in every game of it I played that I really enjoyed (that is the reason I kept trying it again and again) I never finished a game feeling fully satisfied with the experience.
I love Vantage but it’s a whole different experience than the 12 Year FO. Vantage uses a younger, higher proof blend with French, American & Mizunara finishings giving it different profile. It’s fruitier, spicier and with much less oak flavors. Still great but very different.
Easy to get to the table and easy to get lost in for a couple hours. Setup and teardown is minimal, and the exploration of the planet is fun imho. I have quite a few plays and still enjoy it.
I am still figuring out if I like the game after six plays (and odd thing to say after that many plays I know) but to have the expanse Jamey clearly wanted this to be it has to be very shallow.
Efka was also disappointed in Vantage.
Kinda agree with Tom about the game losing its excitement after more plays. I do want to play more. But not as extensive or as often as the first few plays. It is like a chill exploration game for me now. Still fun. I do sometimes quit before completing a mission as it can take a long time when you just can't find what you are looking for.
And there's no way I'm going to store Vantage vertically even if it is a square box that I have played a lot.
Compare
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