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Myrmidongs posted:Rahdo just posted a video here of a game called Glen More. Reminds me a lot of Carcassonne and Keyflower. Looks a lot meatier than Carcassonne, but a lot more straightforward than Keyflower. Glen More is a much lighter game than Keyflower. I really enjoy it, it's a solid game with a variety of paths to victory. I had someone tell me they thought I 'mastered' it, but I just win a lot and think I still have a ways to go in regards to strategy for it. I find going for heavy whisky production is a good way to go, but I've won through resource variety and going for fairs, too. It's also a valid strategy to try to lock down one resource so everyone has to buy it from the bank. Sell every so often to earn some cash to use as VP, but make sure nobody can buy it when they need it. This works wonderfully with stone and wood (and will DESTROY anyone trying to earn chieftans), but even controlling wheat can slow someone down. My group really likes it, it's suitably deep and full of interesting decisions. It's also relatively quick once everyone gets the idea.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:09
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Thank you to everyone for all of the help and suggestions! I looked up a gameplay video of Eclipse, and despite how complicated it looks, you're right, it's not that bad in practice. The whole actions/upkeep thing is neat as well, and I think enough of my group would love to play it (with the exception of the one guy who spends all of his time on his cell phone, but he doesn't count) that I should pick it up. I'll also probably grab Thunderstone for now, and go back for the others later on when a couple more paychecks come in. I'm not really sold on Mage Knight Board Game though - I watched a guy play through an already completed four player play by forum game, and it still took him over four hours while he was using a computer program to do so. The game looks like a hell of a lot of fun, but I'm worried that the sheer amount of time that it takes is a big issue. I think for now I'll pass on it in physical form and perhaps play a digital version to reduce the amount of bookkeeping and allow us to leave the game and come back to it later. If it clicks and we really get into it, I'd consider picking up a physical copy. I'll also take a look at Love Letter, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Among the Stars when I get a chance.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:27
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Yeah, Glen More feels like a pretty standard Euro with one amazing mechanic: the turn-wheel-time-auction thing. Was this a new thing in Glen More? Is there other games with this mechanic? It feels like it should be something we see all the time.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:11
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jmzero posted:Yeah, Glen More feels like a pretty standard Euro with one amazing mechanic: the turn-wheel-time-auction thing. That was basically the reason I picked up Glen More. I sold it off later because I rarely brought it out but I really do like the action mechanic and I wished there was a bigger penalty later on to having fewer tiles because once you get a good combo of resources going skipping way ahead can definitely be a penalty compared to taking every tile you can just so you can activate your clansmen again. I haven't seen that mechanic used since though. It's certainly an interesting one, I think a deckbuilding game using that mechanic could be really cool.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:23
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Malt posted:How is the replay value with Forbidden Island? Looks like fun, but also seems like you can figure it out pretty quickly. Forbidden Island's replay value increases with the alternate gameplay setups from BGG. I played 5 or 6 games of it at one game night and it's a little stale for me now. Not something I would bring to the table every game night but worth keeping in the rotation.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:31
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PeterWeller posted:I don't think so. It's a fairly detailed game, but it does a good job of compartmentalizing and parceling out the complexity with the strategy cards. You don't have to consider all the options at all times because you can only make use of most of those options with the proper cues. The mechanics are really quite simple, and aside from activating the system you are moving to instead of the one you are moving from, quite intuitive. The scope and scale can definitely be intimidating, but there are many more complex board games, and it's got nothing on detailed war games like ASL or Battletech. This seem like saying that flying an airplane isn't difficult, because you're not trying to fly the space shuttle. There are elements of TI that are simple to grasp, but complex in play. For example, it's simple to say that activating strategy cards enables the text on the card. In play, however, "do I activate Assembly immediately, to prevent other players from refreshing systems, or try to negotiate (bribe) for it's activation later?" TI is complex game by virtue of it's many systems in play, and their varying degree of strategic depth. Subjectively, however, I feel it's well worth the investment to learn.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:33
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jmzero posted:Yeah, Glen More feels like a pretty standard Euro with one amazing mechanic: the turn-wheel-time-auction thing. The time thing in Thebes and Olympos feels pretty similar, and I'm a huge fan of that mechanic as well. If you haven't, check out Thebes for more of a standard Euro or Olympos for it's Smallworld-esque (same designer) area majority game.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:44
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black metal hugbox posted:In the ~6 years I've owned Game of Thrones it has been a lot of people's first game. The rules aren't complex, the gameplay is interesting, and it beats the poo poo out of boring garbage like ~Ticket to Ride~ The thing is, if you're trying to bring new people into boardgaming, most of those people have little to no exposure to how niche boardgames work. Your opinion on how "exciting" or "boring" various is pretty much irrelevant to the real issue: you don't want to alienate new players, and something like GoT is very likely to do so. It's long and complex compared to mass-market games (and vs hundreds of niche games) and it's highly political, which is a really, really polarizing feature. The fact is the stuff you call boring garbage are widely lauded as great introductory games because they don't put up a lot of roadblocks to enjoyment. Sure, you can break out GoT or BSG as first-timer games, and maybe it'll work. But why take the chance? Surely there's something simpler/shorter/less politcal that you like.
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Jul 30, 2013 22:05
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xopods posted:... game-ruining stuff they've done from Princess & the Dragon onwards. I like the Princess & the Dragon. It makes 2 player more interactive. I wouldn't pull it out for anything more than 2 players though. I also like The Tower for 5 or more players. Edit: I've culled a lot of my collection. If there was a random boardgame event at my place, Game of Thrones would be on the simpler end of games. The theme is very simple, even if you don't watch the show. Your goals are very clear, and after a turn of seeing how it works, it generally starts to click in. Something like Caylus may be a better game, but theme is rather boring. The goals are more numerous and less clear. After a few turns in Caylus you still don't really know what you're building up to. It also depends on the mindset going in. If you have somebody who cares about optimal play, understanding every rule and ramification of everything it won't work. If your group understands what a learning experience is, it's not that bad. I'm learning Paths of Glory, I have no idea what any of the cards do, or where they are in the decks or even what they mean. I'm just playing cards. The General fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 22:05
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quote:It also depends on the mindset going in. If you have somebody who cares about optimal play, understanding every rule and ramification of everything it won't work. If your group understands what a learning experience is, it's not that bad. Teaching a game can be super painful if you have to frontload everything. Quite often we're all sharing a first game, and we'll just kind of speed through our first game (then go find out what we did wrong - manuals are usually a lot clearer after a first play). When we have one person teaching, they'll go over the basics quickly, and then get to other things the first time they happen. Yeah it means the first game isn't a true and perfect reflection of everyone's intellect, but first games are a mess anyway (in most non-trivial games). This works as long as you don't have someone whine about "oh, if I would have known that...". Screw that guy. The only thing worse is the guy who wants to help teach by throwing out exceptions and strategies and what not. I'm tempted to "help" sometimes, I'll admit, but it almost always just confuses and lengthens the process.
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Jul 30, 2013 23:13
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The General posted:Something like Caylus may be a better game, but theme is rather boring. But how about that racy homosexual romance subplot between the Bailiff and the Provost? Pretty controversial for 1200AD.
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Jul 31, 2013 00:20
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dishwasherlove posted:But how about that racy homosexual romance subplot between the Bailiff and the Provost? Pretty controversial for 1200AD. A tragic tale of unrequited love, to be sure.
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Jul 31, 2013 00:53
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dishwasherlove posted:But how about that racy homosexual romance subplot between the Bailiff and the Provost? Pretty controversial for 1200AD. I was always more concerned about all those favours I did for the king. Just assumed the cloth was for new unsoiled robes.
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Jul 31, 2013 02:03
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The General posted:I was always more concerned about all those favours I did for the king. Just assumed the cloth was for new unsoiled robes. And him needing wood was just a euphemism... 
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Jul 31, 2013 02:16
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The General posted:I like the Princess & the Dragon. It makes 2 player more interactive. People keep saying this, but if you don't think 2-player Carc is interactive enough, you just haven't played a sufficiently aggressive opponent. P&D just adds way too much luck. The tactics of battling for an important city are largely undermined by the fact that you can just be booted out by a lucky tile draw. Obviously, luck of the tiles is a factor regardless, but one of the defining characteristics of the basic game is that most hostile actions - be it preventing completion of a feature or stealing it - require more than one move to complete unless your opponent sets it up himself, so there's usually an opportunity to react, whether directly or by setting up a mutual damage threat elsewhere.
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Jul 31, 2013 02:21
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I do not find Carcassonne deep enough to memorize all the tiles and take it to the next level. Adding in some element to keep me entertained while playing a light game is perfectly fine with me. It also keeps me at the same level as my opponent. If I supersperg over Carc, I wont be able to enjoy it the few times a year I play it.
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Jul 31, 2013 02:57
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Crackbone posted:The fact is the stuff you call boring garbage are widely lauded as great introductory games because they don't put up a lot of roadblocks to enjoyment. Sure, you can break out GoT or BSG as first-timer games, and maybe it'll work. But why take the chance? Surely there's something simpler/shorter/less politcal that you like. This is the reason, THE reason why I go out of my way not to recommend Space Alert to people just starting out. Ticket to Ride might be "boring garbage" if you've played Love Letter, Ugg-Tect, Avalon, Eclipse, Space Alert, etc, but riding trains is an unchallenging theme that doesn't weird out people who are literally afraid of fictional universes (the kind that would actually look down on you if you claimed to be a trekkie/trekker). The mechanics are simple, the rules are short, and the gameplay has depth. These things are super important for demonstrating why you'd play something that isn't Monopoly. Trying to pry idiots away from Munchkin is a pain in the rear end when you have to spend 10 minutes teaching rules when also the idiots in question are already resistant to new things. Brandy old-fashioned tastes like poo poo. If it's their first time drinking, try a shot of something fruity and cheap.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:31
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BL, since you're the OP (and thus indirectly in charge of everything poll-related), how do you feel about my above idea of running a new one since it's been a while and some people are out of the new game loop?
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Jul 31, 2013 03:35
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Countblanc posted:BL, since you're the OP (and thus indirectly in charge of everything poll-related), how do you feel about my above idea of running a new one since it's been a while and some people are out of the new game loop? I was literally considering doing a new poll for the last 3 months and the only thing stopping me was my own stupid rear end. I'd love for you to do one. I'd like to see:
Like, all of them. I'm okay with listing 14 top games in the OP-- it's only a matter of design to make it less overwhelming.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:45
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Forgive my ignorance: what is meant by "crunchy?"
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Jul 31, 2013 03:56
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Dr. Video Games 0029 posted:Forgive my ignorance: what is meant by "crunchy?" Complexity and weight of the rules.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:57
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Dr. Video Games 0029 posted:Forgive my ignorance: what is meant by "crunchy?" Edible games.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:58
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Oddly it still applies. Wargames are generally much more edible. More carboard chits, less wooden meeples.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:59
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Dr. Video Games 0029 posted:Forgive my ignorance: what is meant by "crunchy?" It's pretty much medium-heavyweight games, the games that take a bit of gaming experience to really get a good handle on. I imagine most games will fall into this category.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:59
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So Twilight Struggle is a crunchy game.
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Jul 31, 2013 04:02
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Dr. Video Games 0029 posted:So Twilight Struggle is a crunchy game. Totally. "Crunchy" really refers to games that you have to chew on before swallowing. Deep strategies leading to deep replay value, or even just a heightened ability to deterministically judge your own victories/losses.
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Jul 31, 2013 05:31
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Anyone have Martin Wallace favourites? I haven't played any of his stuff, and am interested in what I've heard about him as a designer. I'm interested in the themes of Byzantium and A Few Acres of Snow, but I've heard mixed things about both of those. I'm sort of indifferent to the themes of most of his other games but most of them seem to be well liked. Anything stand out as a must-play?BGG posted:Abridged List of Notable Games
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Jul 31, 2013 05:34
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I don't like Brass, although it's a really deep and rewarding game. It's why people like Martin Wallace. I hate A Few Acres of Snow, because it's a broken, unplaytested piece of poo poo. It's why people don't like Martin Wallace. I've heard good things about Discworld but nobody's said anything about the actual game, and I'm pretty sure it's mostly Discworld fans excited that the universe has support. I guess I should go research this.
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Jul 31, 2013 05:38
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Broken Loose posted:I've heard good things about Discworld but nobody's said anything about the actual game, and I'm pretty sure it's mostly Discworld fans excited that the universe has support. I guess I should go research this. I remember reading some reviews of Discworld that the game's fairly good mechanically, but it's way too easy to stall out, which is kind of a problem when there's a character whose win condition is "stall the game out." I think there were also a couple of factions whose win conditions just don't mesh at all with the way the game's played, although I'm damned if I can remember which ones they were. e: Yeah, thinking a bit harder, there were definitely a few factions (Sam Vimes being the big one) that synched up with gameplay better than others, leading to some kind of nasty asymmetry in difficulty. I'm pretty sure the Assassins in particular were super difficult to win with, just because their win condition was so contrary to the way the game was played and relied a lot on the other players making mistakes. Fungah! fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Jul 31, 2013 |
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Jul 31, 2013 05:51
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Broken Loose posted:I don't like Brass, although it's a really deep and rewarding game. It's why people like Martin Wallace. I'm interested in hearing why you don't like it, if you don't mind talking about that some more.
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Jul 31, 2013 06:09
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Dr. Video Games 0029 posted:Forgive my ignorance: what is meant by "crunchy?" In games, the story and theme are referred to as the 'fluff' and the actual rules and mechanics of the game are the 'crunch'. So a game is 'crunchy' if it's more about the rules/mechanics than the story (this is a super basic distinction). It's like universe of 40k and the stories of the imperium of man are the fluff of 40k, while rolling 3+ to hit with space marines is the crunch of the game.
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Jul 31, 2013 06:11
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Broken Loose posted:I was literally considering doing a new poll for the last 3 months and the only thing stopping me was my own stupid rear end. I'd love for you to do one. I think breaking things up into categories rather than "top 5 in the last two years" or whatever is a good idea. Most people are going to be naturally inclined to vote for recent games anyway, and two lists is just going to result in a lot of recent games showing up on both of them. It might be a good idea to have the old top 5 still prominently displayed somewhere in the OP.
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Jul 31, 2013 07:11
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Having only played Automobile from that list, I was underwhelmed. Ugly, obnoxiously mathsy game that wastes a good theme. It has complexity, but the game just didn't have enough charm or cleverness to make me want to take the time to master it. (Note - mathsy in of itself isn't a bad thing. Powergrid is tits. Automobile is just unpleasant.) The End fucked around with this message at 07:22 on Jul 31, 2013 |
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Jul 31, 2013 07:12
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Really? Powergrid better than Automobile? 
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Jul 31, 2013 08:15
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I really like Automobile (especially the treefrog version since it has wooden counters). It is mathsy, but I think it's pretty clever in how you have to judge the right amount of cars to build and when to close factories and how to make the most of your investments. I kind of has an 18XX flavour that I love for some reason and most of the people I've played it seem to love it. On the other hand, I'm not the hugest fan of Power Grid since I find it pretty repetitive and it outstays its welcome really quickly, while the fact that Automobile is only 4 rounds at maximum makes it much more enjoyable to me. As for other Martin Wallace games, Brass is awesome and one of my favourites, Age of Industry is pretty good (it's a lighter version of Brass), Liberte is very good but hard to find, Perikles is good. Anything else from him I don't really like.
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Jul 31, 2013 08:23
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Definitely up for a vote. I'd like to see a couple of categories based on how people actually approach boardgames in any given situation: * Best Co-op (include semi-co-ops like BSG or Resistance?) * Best for Two players (we do have a lot of gaming couples, or gamers + significant others) * Best Introductory * Best Social * Best Complex * Best in under half an hour ... And maybe * Most impressive mechanics * Best expansion ??
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Jul 31, 2013 08:58
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Broken Loose posted:I was literally considering doing a new poll for the last 3 months and the only thing stopping me was my own stupid rear end. I'd love for you to do one. Is this going to be a new thread type of deal? It's probably time, after all.
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Jul 31, 2013 10:48
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I guess area control/screwing over other players is more my thing than clever maths :P
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Jul 31, 2013 12:40
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Finally ordered my own copy of The Resistance: Avalon after playing many, many games over lunch breaks at the office. I really like this version compared to the original, and I'm looking forward to introducing new people to it. September will likely be my next live game of Twilight Imperium. It looks like we'll finally have six players, and we'll be using the Assembly SC with Representatives and intrigue. I like my intergalactic conflict with a little extra bacstabbery.  Planning on ordering Memoir '44, Archipelago, and Terra Mystica in the near future. Some big investments, but I think the payoff will be pretty good.
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Jul 31, 2013 14:45
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We could have a seperate thread to vote for the rankings, maybe it would even encourage people that aren't regular to the thread to vote.
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Jul 31, 2013 14:47
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