|
Lottery of Babylon posted:Maybe not for the person who has them. For the player across the table who gets chosen to be eaten because they've been too busy getting cursed to collect any items, it's not very fun. Surely you were getting some rules wrong. Six hours?? That's way too long, with four or five players EH should be like 2-3 hours. And the amount of cursed/detained/delayed stuff sounds way crazier than I've ever seen in a game.
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 21:49 |
|
|
Blamestorm posted:That's way too long, with four or five players EH should be like 2-3 hours. And the amount of cursed/detained/delayed stuff sounds way crazier than I've ever seen in a game. We had seven. Based on the game mechanics it seems like game length is directly proportional to the number of players. e: This was without expansions so we didn't have the "Gain a reroll token" action.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:29
|
|
|
Lottery of Babylon posted:We had seven. Based on the game mechanics it seems like game length is directly proportional to the number of players. Yeah, don't play either Arkham or Eldritch with 7 players. I wouldn't personally go over 4 or maybe 5 if you really must. (Eldritch probably scales better than Arkham, but still.)
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:33
|
|
|
Gimnbo posted:What? Now that has to be bullsh Couple pages back but my brother owns an old Civil War game that recommends disputes be solved with a fistfight.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:38
|
|
|
malkav11 posted:Yeah, don't play either Arkham or Eldritch with 7 players. I wouldn't personally go over 4 or maybe 5 if you really must. (Eldritch probably scales better than Arkham, but still.) The game size/length combined with the tiny decks also meant we were seeing the same cards over and over. At one point a dying knight tried to hand one of us the Sword of Saint Jerome... but couldn't because that same player already got the Sword of Saint Jerome from when that same knight had previously died earlier in the game.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:47
|
|
|
Lottery of Babylon posted:The game size/length combined with the tiny decks also meant we were seeing the same cards over and over. At one point a dying knight tried to hand one of us the Sword of Saint Jerome... but couldn't because that same player already got the Sword of Saint Jerome from when that same knight had previously died earlier in the game. Eldritch is a funny one. It's played well for me up to 4 players, but the moment we hit five, it sank like a stone. That's with both expansions to cut the repetition too. I think the designers should've had the integrity to just hard limit the game to 4. Then again, the pressure probably came from FFG's marketing branch. Just like Game of Thrones 'supports 3 - 6 players', when everyone knows it's 'play with 6 and only 6. 5 if desperate.'
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 06:57
|
|
|
MildManeredManikin posted:Is there a game that does what Diplomacy does but without all the bullshit? I've heard a lot about diplomacy, I've never played it myself but it just seems kind of dated and bloated with mechanics that are sort of periphery to the part of it that is actually fun. Also with a long play time and high player count it seems difficult to even get people to play it. MildManeredManikin posted:Ah, my mistake. I didn't look at it very extensively. The play time is still less than ideal but I otherwise stand corrected. Given that you didn't look at it extensively, or really at all, I'm very curious what bullshit, dated and bloated mechanics peripheral to the part that is actually fun you were referring to.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 07:21
|
|
|
The End posted:Eldritch is a funny one. It's played well for me up to 4 players, but the moment we hit five, it sank like a stone. That's with both expansions to cut the repetition too. I think the designers should've had the integrity to just hard limit the game to 4. Then again, the pressure probably came from FFG's marketing branch. Just like Game of Thrones 'supports 3 - 6 players', when everyone knows it's 'play with 6 and only 6. 5 if desperate.' Bit of a digression, but I've played GoT a few times now--still probably too novice to make any conclusive statements--but I'm starting to actually prefer 5 player, if you take out Greyjoy instead of Martell, and use the "Pike is impassable" token from the 3-player components. Lannister feels a lot more viable without Greyjoy breathing down your neck. Never play five player with neutral Martell, though. The game will always, always go to Tyrell or Baratheon. The free Dornish buffet is just too good.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 07:43
|
|
|
Malloreon posted:Given that you didn't look at it extensively, or really at all, I'm very curious what bullshit, dated and bloated mechanics peripheral to the part that is actually fun you were referring to. Again, this is entirely on me skimming the rules but I saw what looked like area control stuff, theme based mechanics, asymmetric roles, a 5 hour play time and player elimination in a 60 year old game and sort of assumed it wouldn't really hold up to modern games? I'm also spectating a pbp and it looks a little tedious in there. Obviously I was overzealous in my assumptions, but hopefully you can see why I was turned off. Jump King fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Jan 21, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 07:46
|
|
|
The real game in Diplomacy is, funnily enough, the diplomacy. The mechanics are all purely in service to that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 08:26
|
|
|
MildManeredManikin posted:I'm also spectating a pbp and it looks a little tedious in there. Unless all communications between players are public, it is not possible to watch a game of Diplomacy. If all communications between players are public, it is not really a game of Diplomacy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 08:40
|
|
|
Trip report, game night the...fifth I think by now. Things went much better than last week where a game of Kemet turned into a drawn out affair as two players found better things to do mid-stream. This time we had a substitution but it happened effectively right away as the game began and was less "oh I'm not interested anymore" and more "I played last time but you didn't, would you like to play?" Playtime went about 90 minutes, and ended at Day Phase 4 with a cunning victory by the brand new player who leveraged an Escape card to pull a rope-a-dope on me, scoring a battle victory point on the counter-attack and reclaiming the temple I'd booted him out of. I've now played four games of Kemet and won precisely zero. I may, in fact, be very bad at it. Nonetheless I continue to enjoy it. I can tell the game would go even faster if there was less deliberation over power tiles but that's a thing that's only going to come with regular play, so I can't be too bothered by it. Even now with the limited exposure people have gotten to it there's already a degree of "I already know what I want" going on so even if people aren't 100% familiar with each and every tile people have still figured out things like Hand of God or Defensive Victory. I dabbled with a bit more of a balanced approach this time around and found an opening approach I might stick with for a game or two which is to first round purchase both Charge and Defense, effectively giving me a permanent +1 to Strength all 'round. I'd wanted to go for the Ancestral Elephant on the next round but nah, someone else picked him up first, so I went with the Deep Desert Snake. Lots of creatures actually came out this game, all but two of them hit the board (the Mummy and the Sphinx wound up gathering dust). I still need to figure out a good approach to keeping my pyramids upgraded and balancing that with everything else though. Also Crusade (the tile that gives you prayer points for killing enemy units) seems very useful from my limited exposure to it. Maybe red and white next time. The second game we played of the evening was Ultimate Werewolf. I have never before played Werewolf or Mafia or any other iteration of the "village and traitors" game, though I have some secondhand exposure to it from PbPs here. We had a 12 player game with 2 werewolves. I got assigned the Seer. I then proceeded to get lynched on day one in the most ridiculous fashion...I was accused, defended myself, yadda yadda, then came time to vote. Well, the moderator explains, the Mayor gets to decide how to tally votes...show of hands, thumbs up/down, etc. The Mayor chooses thumbs. "So thumbs up means he's innocent or means we want to lynch him?" "The first one. Ready? Vote." The Mayor then forgets what she said and accidentally gives me a thumbs down. Her vote, counting double as the Mayor, is what pushes me over the edge into being lynched. Like, I can't even be mad about that (and I'm not), and I proceeded to give her (and the rest of the table) endless amounts of poo poo from beyond the grave about it for the rest of the game, which the werewolves proceeded to win (one werewolf got lynched, then the Drunk turned into another werewolf on the third night, whoops). I've always found Mafia/Werewolf to be kind of a weird game, at least going by the PbPs here. Playing it in person I can definitely see the appeal...but I can also see how it could get intensely frustrating. Also I admit a game where you can (and someone in fact has to) get eliminated first round and have to sit the rest of the game out seems kind of...iffy? It didn't exactly drag but people were saying that you can have games of Werewolf that go to like 60+ players and I can't loving imagine being the first person lynched in one of those. "All right guys, have fun, I'm gonna go have a two hour lunch, text me when you're done." Nonetheless I had a much better time this week, and attendance at the store in general was much higher this time around. Also it's my birthday today, so in a celebratory mood I treated myself to the store's unopened copy of Risk: Legacy which I'll be bringing next Tuesday. I'm going to make sure before I crack that sucker open that nobody's going to to leave early for whatever reason because you just can't have that poo poo going on with Legacy, but the last time I got to play this game I had a ton of fun and the first few games always went lightning fast so I'm optimistic that we could get through three or four in an evening before the additions that make the game take a bit longer start coming into play.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 09:08
|
|
|
MildManeredManikin posted:Again, this is entirely on me skimming the rules but I saw what looked like area control stuff, theme based mechanics, asymmetric roles, a 5 hour play time and player elimination in a 60 year old game and sort of assumed it wouldn't really hold up to modern games? I'm also spectating a pbp and it looks a little tedious in there. Obviously I was overzealous in my assumptions, but hopefully you can see why I was turned off. What are these "theme-based mechanics" in the game with four actions including "do nothing"?
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 09:56
|
|
|
It's ok dude, I already admitted I was wrong. E: I'm not sure why theme based mechanics is a sticking point in particular unless maybe I'm misunderstanding the word thematic. I understand my criticisms are misdirected but is diplomacy not thematic? I think any game that uses a map based in real world geography is allowing theme to heavily influence it's gameplay. Having asymmetric roles that start in specific sections of the map is a thematic choice itself, as I can't see a reason to lay things out in that way except for the theme. I also see player elimination as a highly thematic design choice. Jump King fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Jan 21, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 10:29
|
|
|
Jedit posted:What are these "theme-based mechanics" in the game with four actions including "do nothing"? Imagine 
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 10:51
|
|
|
Kai Tave posted:" Playtime went about 90 minutes, and ended at Day Phase 4 with a cunning victory by the brand new player who leveraged an Escape card to pull a rope-a-dope on me, scoring a battle victory point on the counter-attack and reclaiming the temple I'd booted him out of. Just an fyi the game can't end in the day phase because reaching the VP threshold doesn't trigger victory. The trigger is one or more players having 10 VP when night falls.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:00
|
|
|
Chomp8645 posted:Just an fyi the game can't end in the day phase because reaching the VP threshold doesn't trigger victory. The trigger is one or more players having 10 VP when night falls. Well not quite. Quoth the rulebook "As soon as a player has at least 8 [or 10 of you're playing to 10] VP at the end of a Day phase, he is declared the winner." So it happens in a sort of in-between space. And to clarify, this player was the last one to go in turn order and his final attack was on the final round of the Day phase in question, which meant it was literally the last action of that Day phase. Winning that battle got him his 7th VP, then at the end of the Day phase when you would distribute prayer points and VP based on temples and such he gained his 8th for controlling two temples.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:10
|
|
|
Thanks for the T&E mobile thoughts. The screen is big enough for Galaxy Trucker, so hopefully big enough for T&E. I see there are a fair few free backgammon apps on Android, any recommendations? Will probably also look at that solo game someone posted and give feedback.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:23
|
|
|
Played Through The Ages last night and ended up playing 3 games in a row 'til 5 AM. I don't even.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:43
|
|
|
MildManeredManikin posted:It's ok dude, I already admitted I was wrong. Man, you've tortured that game terminology to breaking point. Perhaps you may be overthinking things a tad?
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:46
|
|
|
Poison Mushroom posted:Just updated S'xsyde to version 1.01... because I did something really stupid. If it's any consolation, bell curves is something I see game designers forget often for no apparent reason. The worst case I've seen was in an RPG where everything was rolled with 2D10. In particular, hit locations were decided by 2D10 on a table going from toe to head with each limb having a die score spread that depended on the size of the limb… Note the choice of words there: die score spread. It did not take into account the probabilities of getting those scores. So somehow, you ended up having a 1:4 chance of hitting a person in the left arm, and roughly a 1:5 chance of hitting the torso. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 12:07
|
|
|
Tippis posted:If it's any consolation, bell curves is something I see game designers forget often for no apparent reason. The worst case I've seen was in an RPG where everything was rolled with 2D10. In particular, hit locations were decided by 2D10 on a table going from toe to head with each limb having a die score spread that depended on the size of the limb…
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 12:14
|
|
|
Hey, D20s are expensive and complicated compared to the trusty old D10.  Somehow. (At least I think that's how the RPG in question ended up with its hit tables: copy-paste with slight alterations from a similar but D20-based system.)
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 12:48
|
|
|
Tekopo posted:The original printing for The Hunters (a solitaire game based on WWII u-boats) had a table that had 1-20 (with each meant to be equally likely) values that you rolled 2d10 on. Yep. Rolling 1 on 2d10 would be quite an impressive feat.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 13:31
|
|
|
MikeCrotch posted:Rolling 1 on 2d10 would be quite an impressive feat.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 13:34
|
|
|
TastyLemonDrops posted:Played Through The Ages last night and ended up playing 3 games in a row 'til 5 AM. I don't even. Sounds about right.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 13:42
|
|
|
"Well, I mean, I have it now, so I might as well give it a go." "I mean, I know it's probably not going to be a good game, but it should at least be amusing." "Oh cool I have a bear on my team now that's kinda cool" "oh come the gently caress on why does that character already have so much useful poo poo" "Okay I'm doing okay now killin' dudes all is- oh wait no that was bullshit rip progress" "Alright I'm at the end STAY THE gently caress AWAY I WANT THIS TO BE OVER" "two out of three gone now just this guy" "stop not dying" "why is the healing card right next to the healing space" "i have a fifty percent chance each turn of doing one damage to you and you have a one in three chance each turn of healing two or more" "this game is never going to end" "loving FINALLY SCREW YOU PROBABILITY"  I should have listened. I was all like "man sometimes I like the games that the board game thread doesn't so whatever WHAT COULD GO WRONG" I am a fool. I guess if there was an upside it's that when you play a digital version of a bad game vs computers, nobody cares if you play phone games in between turns. Robust Laser fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jan 21, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 13:48
|
|
|
Welcome to the Hivemind. Some people from work invited me to play BSG next week. As I have just finished the first season of the show, can you tell me if the base game or any expansions spoil anything that happens later?
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 13:57
|
|
|
Rexides posted:Welcome to the Hivemind. The expansions are a bit spoilery, but most of the spoilers are in components you shouldn't use.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 14:00
|
|
|
Rexides posted:Welcome to the Hivemind. Base game is fine with season 1. Expansions are spoilery. On the topic of Talisman, gently caress The Witcher boardgame. It's talisman meets elder sign, and it's unpleasant.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 14:02
|
|
|
I love thematic games and the Witcher, but gently caress if the first mention of it being like Talisman wasn't enough to completely scare me off.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 14:50
|
|
|
Panzeh posted:Republic of Rome is still better. Thanks for this! This is the game I got in college that was wayyyy over my head at the time, and my first semi-cooperative game. Matching what I now know and like about games, it's quite good! I think I sold my first edition copy, though. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:07
|
|
|
StashAugustine posted:Couple pages back but my brother owns an old Civil War game that recommends disputes be solved with a fistfight. More games need a thematic rule like that. Especially war games, rules dispute go have a shoot out winer wins the dispute abs possibly the game.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:07
|
|
|
Robust Laser posted:
That's why you should get all the expansions: so you have a random chance of (maybe) drawing an end-game (if you remembered to enable them) that might not be quite as horrible. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:08
|
|
|
Robust Laser posted:
Computer Talisman can get annoying like that (which is why I always blast the Healer card with Destruction). But the actual board game is played by actual people who can be reasonable and recognize when a game has going into a loop like that. In that case I would offer than last guy a roll off "I already have the Crown of Command so I get 1-5, if we roll 6 you win the game". Then you roll once and its over. This is the major advantage of board games over computer; like the computer Agricola won't let me play with all the cards solo because that's "against the rules". Lucky I own the physical game so no one can enforce rules on me.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:14
|
|
|
To make that house rule even better, I would suggest rolling the dice to determine the winner at the start of the game rather than at the end of it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:17
|
|
|
medchem posted:I already own and enjoy Caverna. Is there any reason to get Tzolkin, and if so, is the expansion mandatory? Tzolkin, to me, is a middle of the road worker placement with awesome components and production value. However, the expansion did fix a lot of the major flaws that I saw in the game, and overall it's turned into one of my favorites of the genre.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:19
|
|
|
Tippis posted:If it's any consolation, bell curves is something I see game designers forget often for no apparent reason. The worst case I've seen was in an RPG where everything was rolled with 2D10. In particular, hit locations were decided by 2D10 on a table going from toe to head with each limb having a die score spread that depended on the size of the limb… Waiting for some more input before I update to 1.02. Thinking I'll probably drop the difficulty of all chests by 1. May or may not also mess with the odds of chests spawning, and I'm definitely gonna work on the Escape Phase rules. Specifically, the amount of collapse for forcing through an already visited room. Right now, in the lower two difficulties, once you have a one room lead, you can just travel through only visited rooms and have a guaranteed, no-rolls escape. That's not quite how I imagined that phase going. I'm also vaguely considering making the lower floors more difficult on the way out, but I honestly kind of like the feeling of power you get when just cutting a swathe through monsters that gave you grief at the start. It adds a real sense of triumph to cap off a victory.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:24
|
|
|
Tekopo posted:To make that house rule even better, I would suggest rolling the dice to determine the winner at the start of the game rather than at the end of it. While that would certainly be quicker, I'm not sure it really fits the theme of Talisman. I'd rather suggest that each player roll three of those D6 boxes (containing, what, 36 dice?) and whoever can be arsed to count their total score and show that theirs is the highest will be the winner. Also, a 108–648 spread of outcomes seems to be very in keeping with the “balance” of the rest of the game.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 21:49 |
|
|
StashAugustine posted:And then someone challenged him to Twilight Struggle and he never accepted I'm actually the one who did that and I ended up punking out because it was late and, like a literal child, it would have gone past my bedtime. I'm still up for it if you get some time, BL
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 15:47
|
|
