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taser rates posted:I played a 2p game with Trynant last weekend at Magfest, and it's a phenomenal heavy-weight game. The game does have a learning scenario with simplified rules (spinning jenny), but I think it's worth jumping straight into the full game (waterframe) if you're used to heavy games, since it has a predetermined setup that you can use anyways if you want. The actual actions you can take aren't all that complex individually, the game just gives you a ridiculous amount of freedom within those actions that can paralyze you for a bit when you're first starting out, which the predetermined setup should help with somewhat. We managed to knock it out in about 3.5 hours, but lorini I think has said her games can go up to 4.5 hours, which seems reasonable to me still, especially with more players. 3.5 hours with 2 players? I've heard it can take about an hour per player, but I'm assuming that would be with some experience. Would that be possible with more plays you think?
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Jan 30, 2015 19:15
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taser rates posted:I played a 2p game with Trynant last weekend at Magfest, and it's a phenomenal heavy-weight game. Is this mis-spelled? I trying to look this up with no success. And there are a staggering number of games named "Tyrant" if that's what it's supposed to be so can you provide a link to the publisher's page or something? Help a guy out  e: Hah nevermind I'm a dummy. The game is Arkwright and that name is the person you played with 
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Jan 30, 2015 19:23
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Err it's Trynant, a regular poster on this thread. They were playing arkwright.
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Jan 30, 2015 19:25
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So I tried the Firefly game last night. I enjoyed the first half of it, until I realised that by enjoying the first half of it, I'd failed to pay close enough attention to the goal and lost, completely arbitrarily and irretrievably. Then it got kind of irritating. And I think most of the enjoyment in the first half was the nostalgia factor. And good lord is it random and arbitrary. No fewer than THIRTEEN loving DECKS of random cards of wildly varying utility and strength, all of which have important impacts on each other, and all of which can randomly hose you or randomly grant victory. Ugh, I dunno, I wanted to like it, I really did - and maybe with a bit more controllable buying (maybe ship upgrades or skills could just be bought regardless of where you are, or even decks of specific stuff rather than all jumbled in together) and a set of general victory goals with limited turns (most jobs completed, best rep, most money, etc etc) it might be solid... I'm willing to give it another shot, but it seems like the epitome of 'just because it was fun, doesn't mean it was good'. Strip the theme off and it wouldn't be up to much.
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Jan 30, 2015 19:59
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taser rates posted:I played a 2p game with Trynant last weekend at Magfest, and it's a phenomenal heavy-weight game. The game does have a learning scenario with simplified rules (spinning jenny), but I think it's worth jumping straight into the full game (waterframe) if you're used to heavy games, since it has a predetermined setup that you can use anyways if you want. The actual actions you can take aren't all that complex individually, the game just gives you a ridiculous amount of freedom within those actions that can paralyze you for a bit when you're first starting out, which the predetermined setup should help with somewhat. We managed to knock it out in about 3.5 hours, but lorini I think has said her games can go up to 4.5 hours, which seems reasonable to me still, especially with more players. Yup but with two players I think 3 hours is reachable. I haven't played it with two players though.
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Jan 30, 2015 20:00
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thespaceinvader posted:So I tried the Firefly game last night. Failfly: the Game is pretty much Arkham Horror with an even more niche nerdy theme and even more randomness, and what you're describing is an Eldritchification of it.
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Jan 30, 2015 20:09
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Jedit posted:Failfly: the Game Lol, nice burn. Epic fail.
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Jan 30, 2015 21:39
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Mister Sinewave posted:My local Tabletop Cafe rocks. My wife and I went to try a few things out last night and they had XCOM (brand new) as well as Keyflower (isn't this out of print/hard to find?) on the play shelf. I even noticed Dungeon Twister (not the card game version) which as far as I know is supposed to be actually a surprisingly non-trivial game and also impossible to find. Keyflower is still in print but mostly sold out right now. The publisher says that more copies should hit retail soon after they ship backer rewards for the Kickstarter for the Merchants expansion. (Oh how I wish I had backed that Kickstarter ...)
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Jan 30, 2015 21:52
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I think Keyflower: The Merchants is pretty well along in its delivery. I got my copy last week. They made me disassemble the little houses to fit everything in the box! It's monstrous, I tell you.
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Jan 30, 2015 22:08
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So I played a solo game of Agricola tonight. I got 22 points. I'm sorry, I'll leave now 
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Jan 30, 2015 22:20
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Zveroboy posted:So I played a solo game of Agricola tonight. You started out with -14, so you did pretty well compared to that!
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Jan 30, 2015 22:28
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Aye but then I looked in my scorebook and saw my previous two solo games were 44 and 39 points. I think what I did wrong was I got a few cards that all sort of worked together and I just tunnel visioned into then. Choose Woodcutter for my first occupation and got the Private Forest out early as well. Then I got Master Builder and Turnwrest Plough out. I had a lot of wood available, so I was able to get my house to 5 rooms and Master Builder gave me a sixth. I was able to make three 2-square pastures and the plough allowed me to plough the remaining 3 spaces in one action. While I was doing all this though I was only just scraping by on food. Because I didn't have any decent food production going I struggled to feed a 3 person family nevermind getting more family members, so I wasn't able to renovate the house or get any point giving cards into play.
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Jan 30, 2015 22:37
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Nevvy Z posted:Is there a good way to handle combat in these kinds of games without dice? I feel like if you don't have dice you are just stuck playing Diplomacy. I don't actually mind combat dice in a game where you have a fairly high number of units, or can produce them reasonably efficiently, as long as you can make tactical or strategic decisions to alter your odds (so for example, the targeting computers in Eclipse are an absolute must. It's a very common rookie mistake to forego them, and can make the game seem too random). However, where production is very tight, or moves and/or units are extremely limited, dice-less combat is much less aggravating. Straight attrition can work well, as can combat cards. I also have Shogun, which uses a cube tower to randomise combat, but I haven't tried it yet.
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Jan 31, 2015 00:40
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Zveroboy posted:So I played a solo game of Agricola tonight. A 50 is a passing grade in solo; 22?  Zveroboy posted:Aye but then I looked in my scorebook and saw my previous two solo games were 44 and 39 points. Why are you building Fences so early? Ideally you should not build them until the turn you plan on taking the animals; animals will live quite happily for free on the board. Any animals you are taking before the final round should go right into the oven and be eaten, you don't need any fences. You should have saved Master builder until the end and extended your stone house. Stone is much more costly than wood. Edit: This is from BGG. It's a solo game of Agricola with family mode. This is Agricola "Big Money". If your strategy with cards can't beat this build order you shouldn't be doing it. The fun is figuring out if you can: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/335781/solo-play-family-game-challenge-what-best-possible quote:Turn 1: Sheep. Plow, take grain. Rutibex fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 00:54
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This is kind of out of nowhere but does anyone have experience with Black Fleet? I happened to stumble across it while on Amazon and after reading the rules it seems good but also looks to be a little bare bones in terms of mechanics. The simplicity would be a good fit for my group, but too simple and I'm afraid we'll get bored of it.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:31
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Baller Ina posted:This is kind of out of nowhere but does anyone have experience with Black Fleet? I happened to stumble across it while on Amazon and after reading the rules it seems good but also looks to be a little bare bones in terms of mechanics. The simplicity would be a good fit for my group, but too simple and I'm afraid we'll get bored of it. I picked it up at GenCon without demoing it because it just looked like a lot of fun, and I'll say it definitely is a bit lighter than it seems at first. Some of the cards aren't particularly balanced in my experience (played a few times since I got it), and with the right objective cards a player can sometimes get a huge advantage to the point of it almost feeling like the rest of you are all playing for 2nd place. I'd recommend it for a younger audience, but for groups looking for actual pirate-themed strategy I think there's better options out there (everyone talks up Merchants & Marauders a lot, though I haven't played it myself).
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Jan 31, 2015 02:35
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thespaceinvader posted:So I tried the Firefly game last night. You don't need to try it again - let me save you the trouble, it's just as bad as you thought, don't waste time playing it again.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:38
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thespaceinvader posted:So I tried the Firefly game last night.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:53
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Your enjoyment of Firefly: the Board Game is directly proportional to how much it bothers you that there isn't more Firefly. Joss Whedon fanboys and people who use Firefly references in everyday speech will obviously adore it. Normal people will see it as totally meh. Which it is.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:53
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I didn't totally hate it, it just went for twice as long as I wanted it too.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:55
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What comes to mind as a less janky, more slick Cosmic Encounter? Similar spirit in terms of asymmetrical player abilities and negotiation/interaction etc? I feel like CitOW has some similarities but is also quite different, too and is heavier. edit: Totally unrelated, Antoine Bauza is working on a 2 player standalone 7 Wonders game this year:https://twitter.com/Toinito/status/561231277869658112/photo/1 fozzy fosbourne fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 03:02
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bowmore posted:I didn't totally hate it, it just went for twice as long as I wanted it too. Which would fit the bill of 'meh', surely? Onward to Venus seems to be in the mold of Cosmic, but with things like 'balance' and 'design' taken into consideration. Didn't play great with 5 though, but I reckon it might do alright with 3. CitOW is nothing like CE, beyond having asymmetric factions, so I'm not sure how you got there.
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Jan 31, 2015 03:24
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bowmore posted:I didn't totally hate it
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Jan 31, 2015 04:03
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EBag posted:For those euro gamers out there, what are you favorite heavy euros that play well with 2? I'm talking real heavy, like 4+ on BGG. I have a lot of great mid weight euros but I want something that will really burn my brain. I've been thinking about Vinhos in particular but I'm open to suggestions. Through the Ages is the quintessential choice, although it kind of falls apart once you hit its rather high skill ceiling. Vinhos kicks rear end. EDIT: Also it's definitely got the most heavy in the shortest timespan of any game I know. One of the few heavier euros where the box time is overestimating playtime. Madeira is pretty legit. Kanban is probably as good as Vinhos but I haven't played it too much as of yet. Dominant Species is pretty much the bees knees even at two-player with the added benefit of going all the way up to six. If you can stomach the prices and get a hold of them, Roads & Boats (&cetera) and Antiquity are some of the best heavy euros out there. The new Arkwright is currently my heavy game of choice (bring poker chips) (suffers from high prices as well). Mage Knight Board Game is very euro-ey and better with lower player counts (I'd recommend solo!), but not quite the "heavy euro" you're asking for. EDIT: Oh hey taser rates also brought up Arkwright! I'd wager a two hour game of Arkwright could be feasible with experience (with two players!), although set-up is hefty both in components and decision making. ANOTHER EDIT: I'm not sure which of these would be the 'best' heavy euro by the way. Vinhos is probably the safest wager, although I'm really loving Arkwright right now. The Splotter games (Roads & Boats and Antiquity) are amazing but are something you'll need to do research on before deciding (i.e. niche as gently caress and make sure they're right for you). ONE MORE EDIT THING: Also if you want to see how hilariously limited your euro options are on BGG; do advanced search for games with a 4+ weight rating and filter out the categories "trains" and "wargames." Trynant fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 04:06
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The End posted:Your enjoyment of Firefly: the Board Game is directly proportional to how much it bothers you that there isn't more Firefly. Joss Whedon fanboys and people who use Firefly references in everyday speech will obviously adore it. Normal people will see it as totally meh. Which it is. Not really. I'm a Firefly fanboy, but I'm not going anywhere near the Firefly board game because I still have standards.
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Jan 31, 2015 04:24
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Trynant posted:Through the Ages is the quintessential choice, although it kind of falls apart once you hit its rather high skill ceiling. Thanks, this is great. I'm debating between Vinhos and Arkwright, they both sound interesting in their own regards. I've been reading some reviews for Arkwright, some possible concerns I've seen say that shipping to India can be a dominating strategy, and also that because of that it can lack player interaction. Have you noticed that or think it may be a legitimate problem? Honestly I hadn't really considered Dominant Species for 2 players, I always assumed it would be like Eclipse in that it's playable at 2 but is much, much better with 4+. You think that isn't the case? I would definitely give it a look if I'm wrong as I love the theme. How long is it with 2 players on average? I used to have Mage Knight, it was actually one of the first modern board games I picked up. In some aspects it was awesome, the puzzle of hand management and feeling of escalation was great, but I found it to be too fiddly in some ways and have since traded it away. EBag fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 04:39
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Also I would probably not get Through the Ages for two players. It's tricky because the game does take a long time to play with more players, but IMO the military side of the game doesn't work well in a two player zero sum game and the final age scoring cards really need more competition than two players can provide. Three player is probably optimal for most people (due to game length) but personally its four or bust for me, even though the game then does take a long, long time to play.
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Jan 31, 2015 05:15
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Poison Mushroom posted:Just for perspective, how do you feel about Munchkin?
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Jan 31, 2015 05:19
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fozzy fosbourne posted:edit: Totally unrelated, Antoine Bauza is working on a 2 player standalone 7 Wonders game this year:https://twitter.com/Toinito/status/561231277869658112/photo/1 What's the deal with making 2 player versions of games? We already have a shitton of 2p games, I don't think we really need more of the same things but just 2 players. This comment may be partly influenced by my anger at Seth Jaffee making a 2p version of Eminent Domain instead of working on the expansions.
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Jan 31, 2015 05:52
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Not only is the Oatmeal game nearing 5 million dollars, but a horrible dicefest board game is just running away with success, too. God, I'm getting bitter recently.
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Jan 31, 2015 06:22
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Merauder posted:I picked it up at GenCon without demoing it because it just looked like a lot of fun, and I'll say it definitely is a bit lighter than it seems at first. Some of the cards aren't particularly balanced in my experience (played a few times since I got it), and with the right objective cards a player can sometimes get a huge advantage to the point of it almost feeling like the rest of you are all playing for 2nd place. The runaway leader sounds like it would become a drag pretty quick so I think I'll give it a pass. Thanks for the response!
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Jan 31, 2015 06:46
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Poison Mushroom posted:Not only is the Oatmeal game nearing 5 million dollars, but a horrible dicefest board game is just running away with success, too. Haha gently caress, you even roll for turn order every turn.
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Jan 31, 2015 07:15
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Paper Kaiju posted:I'm a Firefly fanboy quote:I still have standards. Know that you lie on a very narrow wedge of a Venn diagram. So I played Terra Mystica tonight. It was my fourth time playing and I still can't stop losing track of poo poo during income. It's also not as fun when you pick a race, forget the gimmick of your race, and proceed to play like an idiot. I started the game planning to beeline up to a stronghold as the Engineers and then once the game began I promptly deviated from my plan because I'm bad at games. It didn't help that no one wanted to build next to me so I was pretty power starved. The person who eventually won kept getting fed power by another player because the builder really didn't want to build next to the Cultists. I still managed to pull second just by mainlining the round objective points toward the end. I also forced my copy of Spyrium onto the same group. Halfway through, everyone started to say "this is a really good game." It was definitely worth the $15 I paid for it, though you'd be surprised how much AP can be packed into that little box. I came in dead last because I wasn't paying attention the player who won (and also won TM) and they got a factory up without me realizing it. Gimnbo fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 07:49
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Poison Mushroom posted:Not only is the Oatmeal game nearing 5 million dollars, but a horrible dicefest board game is just running away with success, too. It's a gentle reminder to cultivate friendships with popular webcomic artists  Maybe whoever does oglaf is into card games.
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Jan 31, 2015 09:00
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bowmore posted:Yeah that's how my game went. The play a card per space of movement slows the game down horribly and it sucks. Yeah, those were really irritating. Especially because mostly it was 'get 3 open space cards, the fourth might do something irrelevant, the fifth might gently caress you up the rear end even if you're flying clear across the map from the threat, or might randomly give you something really useful' - I feel like you could have used the dice for movement instead - roll, on 1 get reavered, on 6, get stuff. I feel like it would have been a way better game if they'd just bought the rights to reskin an existing (space) trading game - Merchants of Venus or Merchants and Marauders or... one of those games I've played a few times and can't remember the name of... I think I'll probably just suggest next time the guy who bought it wants to play it, that we just watch 4 episodes of firefly instead. It would be more fun.
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Jan 31, 2015 10:10
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Any opinions regarding Heroes of Normandie? I haven't played Memoir '44, how do they compare?
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Jan 31, 2015 10:29
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Azran posted:Any opinions regarding Heroes of Normandie? I haven't played Memoir '44, how do they compare? Heroes of Normandie reminds me of Earth Reborn rather than Memoir '44. HoN and ER share so many mechanics, visual design and are coming from similar circles, while HoN only shares theme with M'44. I like it as a short skirmish game to play with the first guy showing up to our group meetings while others are slowly arriving. Plays in 30-90 minutes (based on AP and learning new rules (since it teaches something new each scenario like ER)) and looks like Cannon Fodder. 
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Jan 31, 2015 10:58
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EBag posted:Thanks, this is great. I'm debating between Vinhos and Arkwright, they both sound interesting in their own regards. I've been reading some reviews for Arkwright, some possible concerns I've seen say that shipping to India can be a dominating strategy, and also that because of that it can lack player interaction. Have you noticed that or think it may be a legitimate problem? Re: Arkwright: I must be doing something wrong because I can't win through shipping for the life of me. That your share values (i.e. how you win the game) go down when you use it makes the whole business feel like a shipping strategy needs good preparation to pull off well. As for player interaction; for a game where you can't block player actions there sure are a gently caress-ton of ways to feel screwed over by other players' actions....In short no I don't think those are legit problems, but note I've not played much of Arkwright yet compared to Vinhos. Dominant Species is definitely better 2 player than Eclipse is 2 player, although yes DS is better with higher player counts. Really, the most reasonable answer is Vinhos--it's shorter than Arkwright and less of a strain on the wallet. Or maybe hunt for that two-player variant of Brass which apparently is a thing and is still a really good game.
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Jan 31, 2015 11:06
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If you are in a group that wants to play Firefly, I find the game vastly improved by two very small changes. First, pull Alliance Operatives and whatever the Reaver card is named out of the Misbehave deck and put them face up in the discard pile like the rules already tell you to for the two gently caress you travel cards. This removes the worst possible results until the table has had a chance to build up. Secondly, only use travel cards every other space. Just having half as many travel cards come up shortens the game time considerably, while still having complications come up in fast travel. It's still a theme first Ameritrash game at the end of the day, but if you're going to play it anyway, at least this way it doesn't overstay its welcome or poo poo all over the first person to try actually commiting a crime.
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Jan 31, 2015 11:17
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Gimnbo posted:Know that you lie on a very narrow wedge of a Venn diagram. I remember listening to an RPG podcast a billion years ago and the creators were involved in some kind of Living Campaign deal for the Firefly RPG. One time they or a guest talked about how if you were a fan of the show, you should buy one copy of the series to watch, a second copy as a backup/to show support, then at least one more copy to loan out to people to spread interest. It's the first time I can remember every thinking "What is wrong with these people?" about some ridiculous fandom. In boardgaming related content, I was thinking about worker placement games. A lot of games have blocking other players as an important mechanic; I was wondering if there are any game where, instead of you blocking a space once you take it, if someone else really needs to go there the first person get's some kind of benefit as well?
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Jan 31, 2015 11:24
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