Beasts and Diplomacy — Why I didn´t play this one (SPIEL Essen 2026)

Description provided by Luzapalooza on YouTube:

Beasts and Diplomacy is a big-box game combining set collection, drafting, and worker placement, funded on Kickstarter in 2025 and now shipping to backers — and it’s going to be at Essen this year from Dragon Dawn Productions. This video is part of our Essen Countdown on Luzapalooza: every day until SPIEL Essen 2026, we spotlight one game worth putting on your radar — from the big anticipated releases to the tiny games you could easily miss in the crowd. This one’s different, though: I’m not reviewing the gameplay, because I haven’t played it, and I’m not going to. 🔗 Beasts and Diplomacy on BGG: [link] The designer has said openly that the game’s art is 100% generative AI, reworked afterward to give it a consistent look. As a performer myself, I know what it feels like when people assume your work can just be skipped — and I don’t condone using AI this way, however it’s dressed up afterward. I don’t think this is a small-publisher problem specifically; Dragon Dawn are genuinely nice people, and I understand a game at this scale might not have been possible for them without it. That doesn’t change where I land on it. So instead of a playthrough, I’m just showing you what’s in the box and being honest about why I’m not covering it the way I normally would. Make up your own mind — I just didn’t want to pretend I hadn’t noticed. One more thing: if you’re at Essen, come find us. The Meet & Play will be at Saal Essen on Saturday, October 24th, starting at 3 PM — here’s a link to the event with a photo showing exactly where to find the room: https://meet-and-play.de/en/about/ If this is your third video on the channel, maybe it's time to subscribe. :-) Luzapalooza on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/Luzapalooza This Game Is Broken — the board game comedy podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GXyynkXltlLY3hGNoYtnB Thanks for watching, and check out the rest of our Essen Countdown for more games! BOARDGAMES · GOOD TIMES · HUGS #Luzapalooza #SpielEssen2026 #SpielEssen #BoardGames #BoardGameGeek #TabletopGames #BeastsAndDiplomacy #BoardGame #TabletopGaming #EssenSpiel